Dreaming of Reality
by KurokamiHaruhi
Summary: While on vacation with my family, my sister and I somehow ended up on an island in One Piece. In between cracking jokes and finding our way home, we went on the adventure of a lifetime. (Maybe eventual LuffyxOC)
1. Prologue

_Hey there, fellow One Piece lovers!_

_Man, I'm_ so _nervous! This is my first story, and I can only hope you all stick with me through this long journey! Feel free to leave your critiques in the reviews! I really appreciate it! :)_

_I'll shut up now so you can read..._

* * *

**_Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it. The only things I really own are Kelly, Lori and this idea._**

* * *

To whomever it may concern,

While you might think that this story is a work of fiction, I'm going to tell you to otherwise right now.

This story is based on real life events that happened to me and my younger sister. During our adventures, we sailed up a steep mountain and across the cloudy skies on our ship. We fought in multiple wars and formed unbreakable bonds with our friends. And while I can't speak for my sister, I know that I'm going to treasure each and every one of those memories for as long as I live.

But enough about me.

This story is about my best friend and his journey to become the Pirate King. When he and I first met, I was still convinced that this was all just some... crazy dream. But as we grew closer, I came to realize that he was just as real as I was. Once I finally accepted that, we made a promise to one another. And though we may never meet again, I still plan on fulfilling my promise to him.

If he is somehow reading this, then I can only hope that this meets your expectations. I promised to write you the greatest story of all time, and I intend to do just that. That's why I'm writing yours. It has inspired me time and time again, and I can only hope that this adventure meant as much to you as it does to me. As we fought through our crazy adventures together and had a blast at the exciting parties, I came to the realization that I never wanted to leave. While our parting was inevitable, I wish I could've stayed with you and the others a bit longer. I'd like to thank you again for everything you did for us. Even though I told you this a great many times before, I truly appreciate everything you did for my sister and I. I'm really gonna miss you, and I bet she will as well (even though she'll never say so). I hope we can meet again someday.

And now, I present to you my pride and joy: _Dreaming of Reality_. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it.

Signed,

Kelly M.

* * *

_Don't worry; I plan on uploading the real first chapter in a couple of hours here!_

_Love you all~_

_Haruhi_


	2. Chapter 1: Crossing the Border

_Hey there, my beloved readers~!_

_If you're reading this, you liked my prologue enough to continue reading! That's awesome~! :D_

_I don't really have much else to say but enjoy!_

* * *

_**Disclaimer: Again, if you recognize it, I probably don't own it. Lori, Kelly and the idea are mine, I'd like to think...**_

* * *

_Intro Theme: Fight Together by Namie Amuro_

Every summer, my family packs our things and pile into our minivan, driving twenty-two hours straight to visit my uncle and grandmother in scenic northern Minnesota. My mom likes to call the drive 'family bonding', but my siblings and I call it torture. I mean, we had to fit the five of us, our golden retriever, and all of our luggage in _one_ minivan. At times, even _I _got claustrophobic, and I usually _like_ being in small spaces. Thankfully, we take pit stops every four hours or so, or we'd end up killing each other.

This year was no different from the rest when we (finally) pulled up to the lake-side cabin we practically grew up in. We unloaded the car and spent a few days catching up with Grandma and Uncle 'Cookie', as we fondly called them. We went skiing and wakeboarding during the first few days and this year, my uncle taught us each how to drive the speed boat. He was getting a little old, and stepping in and out of the boat got harder and harder each day. Although when it came to my turn, I was a little reluctant to take the wheel. So my uncle decided to convince me another way.

He got up from the wheel and took a seat at the back of the boat _as it was still speeding across the lake._

After my mom scolded him for his 'improvised teaching ways, we took the ATV and motorbikes out on the empty dirt roads. I would usually find myself trying to fuse with my brother, seeing as he would go over fifty miles per hour_ with nothing but a helmet to protect himself_. We also held our annual shooting contest with my bow. I ended up winning (again) and my dad, who flies up to the cabin instead of riding with us in the car, accused me of cheating (again).

But as usual, after a week, my sister and I got bored and reclusive.

"Lo~ri~!" I called up the stairs. When I received no response, I let out a heavy sigh and jogged up the rest of the stairs to the large guest bedroom. I turned the corner to take the last steps and I found her lying on her bed, reading a thick book. She glared at me over her book, "What."

"Mom says we either find something to do on our own, or we have to go skiing," I explained, lying on the remaining stairs that I was too lazy to climb.

She winced at the thought, closing her book after marking the page, "Okay, so what did you wanna do?"

I shrugged, "I dunno, it's up to you. You won't go shooting with me…"

"And you won't go on a quad ride with me, so we're even."

"Then why don't we take the paddle boat out to the island?" I suggested, "We can explore and try to find another place I can shoot."

The sheriff on the lake found out that I would shoot up our driveway instead of going to a proper range and slapped me with a fine, 'suggesting' we find a new place to shoot. Going into town took thirty minutes alone, not to mention actually _finding _a range in town would take even longer. One that allowed bows was even harder to find these days, even in Minnesota. So what better place was there to go than an abandoned island on the other side of the lake? No one visits the island anymore (since it was overgrown by large plants), and the sheriff wouldn't even _think_ to look for us there!

Lori frowned, unsure, "Mom said we shouldn't go to that island anymore..."

"Yeah, well, it's better than the alternative," I retorted, getting up and finally climbing the last steps, "So you coming or what?"

She paused before letting out a heavy sigh, kicking off the blankets on her legs and grumbling, "I guess…"

As she got up and straightened out the covers on her bed, I grabbed my bow case off the table and pulled the strap over my shoulder. I took my sunglasses and full-size headphones off my nightstand, unplugging my iPod from its charger and sliding it in my pocket. Lori grabbed her own shades, iPhone, and in-ear headphones from the table. I pulled a pair of ankle socks out of my suitcase and tugged them on as we both headed back downstairs.

"Mom!" I called, "Lori and I are going out on the paddle boat!"

"Alright!" She replied from somewhere else in the cabin, "Don't forget to take your life jackets!"

We both rolled our eyes, "We won't!"

I put on my sunglasses and hung my headphones around my neck as Lori slid on her flip-flops. I quickly grabbed my black tennis shoes and pulled them on, following Lori out the screen door. We made our way down to our old wooden dock, careful of the cracks on the old concrete path. I watched as Lori pulled her long, wavy golden-blonde hair into a ponytail. A smirk spread across my face and she looked at me over her shoulder, raising an eyebrow in question.

"The perks of having short hair~" I crowed, taking off my replica of Trafalgar Law's pre-time skip hat and running a hand through my new pixie cut.

"Yeah, you get mistaken for a dude. What more could you want?"

I snickered, putting my hat back on, "Hey, you gotta admit, it's pretty hilarious when girls flirt with me."

She shook her head, trying to hide a smile as she stepped into the run-down light blue paddle boat. I set my bow case on top of the life jackets that were in the back seat, since the floor had an inch of water in it. I unhooked the boat from the dock and got in behind her. With a light push, the boat drifted into the calm lake. I quickly checked my seat for water before grinning at her.

"You ready?"

"Yep."

"Then let's go~!" I cheered, stomping on the center cover and pointing dramatically to the island across the lake. The paddle boat dipped and water splashed in. We both stumbled, but thankfully, neither of us fell in the water. I caught my balance and beamed at her, only to receive a glare in response.

"Kelly, I swear to God, if you tip us, I will kill you." She growled, sitting down.

I pouted, slumping into my own seat, "Jerk."

"Better than being wet."

"Heh, that's what _she_ said~"

"Oh my God- Is _everything_ a sex joke with you?!"

"Of course~"

She glared at me again. I ignored her and pulled my iPod out of my pocket, checking to make sure the battery was full as I plugged in the headphones. I started up a shuffled playlist of One Piece songs. I cranked up the volume to the max and let my headphones stand in for mini speakers, nodding my head to the beat. I butchered the lyrics to 'We Go!' and peddled enthusiastically.

"No singing."

"Bitch, don't tell me what to do!"

She glared at me as I continued to sing loudly. My voice echoed across the empty lake, the only movement on the water caused by our boat. By the end of the song, we'd pulled up to the shore of the island. She and I got out of the paddle boat in unison, the water splashing up our legs as we quickly pulled the paddle boat up onto the small shore. I grabbed the anchoring rope and stretched it to the closest tree, tying it as tightly as I could to the trunk.

"Okay, this is good!" I declared, finishing the knot and watching the water lick the back corner of the boat.

Lori grabbed my bow case out of the back, handing it to me, "Let's get outta sight before mom sees us here."

I rolled my eyes and pulled the strap over my shoulder, "Calm yo titties, we'll be fine."

I turned and started the trek into the thick brush, avoiding anything and everything that even resembled poison ivy or poison oak. I could hear the crunching of the plants under Loris' feet as she followed me. I tried to ignore the tingling sensation of the tall grass brushing against my legs, and my shoes sloshed from the cool water that had seeped into the soles. My iPod cycled through an hours' worth of One Piece songs as we continued to hike through the thick brush and seemingly endless bugs.

After another shuffled playlist started, I paused to glance around, "Hey, Lor'?"

"Yeah?"

"This island isn't very big, right?"

"Well, I've never actually been on this island before, so I dunno."

"But it didn't _look _that big, so don't you think we should've reached the other end by now?"

"If by 'other end', you mean the other shore, then maybe."

I turned to her, skeptical, "You think the island may be bigger than we thought?"

She shrugged, wiping some sweat from her brow, "Doubtful. We're probably just wandering in circles."

"Well, okay…"

We continued to wander until we noticed the obvious change of the plants we were hiking through. The plants had changed from the tall pines and thick ferns to tall, wispy grass and massive palm trees. The terrain had also changed, but mostly to our benefit. The uneven, hard-to-walk-through ground changed into even ground with the occasional snake hole.

I turned to her again, "Okay, and _this_?"

"Okay, Kel', I'm _pretty _sure we'd realize if we left the island. Stop being a bitch, bitch."

"Lori, these are _tropical_ plants. In _Minnesota_."

"If you think we somehow left the island, you are_ delusional_."

I huffed and continued walking, following the light that was peeking through the plants, "Lori, _something_ is going on here, and I'm going to figure this out! Even if…?!" I trailed off as I stared at the shore in shock. My jaw and bow case dropped to the ground as Lori looked over me to see crystal blue waters lapping up on the white sand of the beach.

"…Well, this is new."

"New?! Lori, this is an _ocean_! In land-locked _MINNESOTA_!"

"You don't have to keep telling me we're in Minnesota, 'cause now, we're obviously not!"

I frantically looked around, "Okay, what the _FUCKING HELL_ is going on?!"

Lori shrugged, kicking off her flip-flops and walking to the water, "Dude, don't ask me, I'm on the same page as you."

"Why are you not freaking out?! We somehow ended up on a beach while walking through the woods in Minnesota!"

"Panic is the enemy of rational thought."

"Panic?! Oh, I'm _beyond_ panic at this point!"

"Calm your tits, let's just… find out where we've ended up," She said, giving me a stern look. I nodded, still shell-shocked, and looked up at the beach. The beach was absolutely beautiful, and the sky was practically cloudless. It was as if someone took one of those tropical paradise pictures and recreated it perfectly, the ocean water glistening in the bright sunlight.

How the _hell_ had we ended up here?!

"Hey, Kel', look!" Lori called, shifting my attention over to her. My jaw dropped again when my eyes fell upon the beached ship that lay broken along the shore.

"Wh-Where did that come from?!"

"Obviously the ocean, idiot."

"B-But it wasn't there before!"

"Kelly, your observational skills are showing again."

I struggled to find words. Lori ignored me and walked over to the ship, making a beeline for the opening in the hull. I shook myself out of my trance and ran after her, "Hey, wait for me!"

I looked at the broken pieces of the ship that were scattered along the beach, growing nervous. I grabbed her arm and pulled off my shades, finally looking at the gaping hole in the hull. Lori was unfazed. She pulled out her iPhone and switched on the flashlight before walking through the hole.

"Dude, this is turning into a twisted version of DreadOut…" I mumbled, looking around the rotted room.

Lori rolled her eyes, "Kelly, I _highly _doubt that ghosts are even real. And even then, I doubt my camera would do shit."

"Yeah, that makes me feel _tons_ better about this!"

"Well, you're free to stay behind."

"And be left alone in a place like this? Not a chance!"

Lori sighed in exhaustion and glared at me. I tightened my grip on her arm, trying to look as pitiable as possible. She groaned before grumbling, "Fine. Whatever."

So we continued slowly through what appeared to be the remains of a storage area, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. The interior was dark, the only light in the room coming from the hole in the hull and Loris' flashlight. I could barely make out any of our surroundings, so I nearly lost it when we walked past a skeleton that was sprawled over a crate, "Okay, that's _really_ fucking ominous."

"Nah, can't you see he just wants a hug?"

I gave her my best glare only for her to ignore me again. We walked through a broken doorway into a dimly lit hall and followed the path until the hall stopped, splitting off into two directions. We simultaneously looked down the separate halls before looking at each other.

"Well, what now?" I questioned, readjusting my grip on her arm.

"We go left."

I nodded, "Okay, so that means we go right."

She glared at me, offended, "…Ass. No it doesn't."

"Dude, no offense, but your sense of direction will have us wandering this ship until we die."

"Fine, then _you_ lead."

"I didn't say I was any better."

"Then what do you propose we do?"

I glanced down both halls again, hoping that something would show us the right way to go. When nothing stood out, I let out a heavy sigh and reluctantly let go of her arm, "I hate to say it, but it looks like we should split up."

She rolled her shoulder, "Well, no objections here. You were killing my arm."

I pouted, "Jerk… If you hear me scream, will you at least come?"

"…Debatable."

"Lori!"

She ignored me in favor of walking down the hallway to our left, her flashlight illuminating the path.

I gaped at her back before glaring and shouting, "Jerk!" She continued to ignore me. I glared at her until she turned a corner, disappearing from sight. I then turned to the other hall, my eyes slowly adjusting to the dim surroundings. I took a deep breath to try and calm down before starting down the hall, running a hand along the cold wood to make sure I was going the right way. I walked in silence for a few minutes, the slightest noise making me jump out of my skin. I soon approached an old wooden door, light spilling around the cracks in the wood.

"...NigaHiga, I think this is a sign to GTFO…" I mumbled, staring at the door.

I glanced back down the hall, only to verify that this was the only way I could go. I turned back to the door and took a deep breath, pressing my hands against the rotted wood.

"Well… Yolo…" I pushed open the door, and it creaked open so ominously I could _feel_ the goose bumps crawling up my skin. I peeked into the room, only to be blinded with how bright it was. I winced and backed out of the light. The second time, I let my eyes slowly adjust before entering the room.

It appeared as if it was the captains' room, judging by the huge desk and bookshelf standing before me. The ceiling was blown out, revealing the clear blue sky. The only dark part of the room left was the corner by the dusty bed.

I froze up when I noticed that there was a skeleton curled up in that dark corner; its clothes tattered and covered in dust. I carefully made my way over to the skeleton, avoiding any holes and weak spots in the floor. When I got closer, I noticed that it was holding what appeared to be a small treasure chest. I stared at the chest before realization hit me.

"…Aw man, I'm gonna havta take that chest, aren't I?"

As the realization sank in, I sighed and threw my head back in exasperation. I looked back at the skeleton, my eyes occasionally flickering to the chest as I thought about what I should do. I took a deep breath before kneeling in front of the skeleton. "…Um… Hi? I-I'm sorry you're dead and all, but... could I have that…?" I (obviously) received no response, so I carefully moved the skeletons hands off the chest, lifting it from its lap.

"Thanks…" I mumbled, moving away. I paused, and then pleaded, "Please don't curse me for this."

I still received no response. I let out a sigh of relief and got up, my eyes moving to the old chest I now held in my hands. I walked over to the desk and set the chest down, inspecting it thoroughly.

"…This could be a trap…" I realized, tilting my head and wondering if it was worth the risk. I mean, with the situation that we were put in, anything we could get our hands on could be helpful. We were stranded in a place that appeared to have no civilization and no way to get off it. After a few minutes of silent debate, I slowly cracked the lid open with one finger.

Nothing.

I sighed in relief and opened the chest, letting the lid tip back. When I looked into the chest, I blinked a couple times at what I saw. The lid slipped from my hand and fell on the desk with a soft thud.

I laughed weakly and rubbed my eyes, "Okay, now I _know_ I've lost it." I looked in the box again.

The contents didn't change.

I laughed again, reaching into the box, "Yeah, that's gotta be it. I've lost it! Because there's _no_ way these are…" My fingers brushed their rough skin and my jaw dropped. My hands starting to shake as I pulled the two objects out of the chest with wide eyes. The sun seemed to shine even brighter at that moment, casting ghostly halos around the objects.

Resting in my hands were two _very_ realistic Devil Fruits.

_Ending Theme: Demons by Imagine Dragons_

* * *

_I'll try to keep the updates (kinda) consistent, but I have no clue at this point..._

_Love you all~_

_Haruhi_


	3. Chapter 2: Accidents Happen

_Oh_

_My_

_GOD_

_I didn't expect people to read this, let alone _like_ it_._ That made my week all the better! Thank you all so much~!_

_A special thanks to MIX400, MeatLover2014, Mercy Smith, XxFire-PhoenixxX, and missNOBODYa.k..aKiDcRaXy (Sorry, I had to add an extra '.' cause Fanfiction thought it was a link...) for being the lovely people to add this story to their alerts! It means a lot to me!_

_Another special thanks to Lunacii for adding this to their favorites! I'm honored you already like the story this much!_

_Also, I thought I should let you all know that these characters (Kelly and Lori) are based on me and my sister. So if you have questions to ask, feel free to ask in a review! We would be happy (me more so than her) to answer them!_

_With all of that settled, on with the story~_

* * *

**_MIX400: _**_Thanks for the compliment! My sister and I appreciate it!_

**_QuirkyKit:_**_ I hope it turns into a Luffy x OC story too, but knowing Luffy, it'll be pretty hard to do... :/ But thanks for the support~!_

* * *

**_Disclaimer: I'd love to say that I own One Piece. I think all of us would, am I right? But sadly, I am but a broke college student with no rights. I don't even own my sister. T^T_**

* * *

_Intro Theme: Fight Together by Namie Amuro_

I was frozen in shock, "Devil Fruits…? How… Are these even real…?"

They certainly _looked_ real. One was an apple and the other was a durian, but both had the signature swirls on their skins. The apple was a startling red and the swirls were a dark contrast on the skin while the durian was a soft brown that mixed nicely with the pattern. But when I looked closer at the swirls, they looked as though they had been drawn on. So _were_ they real? As I my mind spun with the possibilities, Lori entered the room and approached me.

"Hey, my path lead to a dead-end, so..." She frowned, noticing the fruits in my hands, "The heck are those?"

I turned to her, eyes wide, "You've _got_ to be kidding."

"What do you mean?"

"You're not serious."

"What are you _talking_ about?"

I stared at her, incredulous. When Lori got curious about One Piece, I watched the whole series with her, so I _know_ she knows what a Devil Fruit looks like. How could she not tell?!

"Hey, you gonna eat that?" She asked, swiping the apple from my hand before I could react, "You're not? Cool, thanks."

My eyes widened farther, "Wait, don't-!"

I could only watch in shock as my sister ate the Devil Fruit without batting an eye. I spotted some swirls on the inner part of the fruit, confirming their authenticity, but I couldn't find any words to stop her. It had been too late by the time she'd swallowed that first bite. So I watched as she finished eating the fruit, tossing the core out the hole in the ceiling and dusting her hands off. She noticed my pale expression and frowned, "…What?"

I was aghast, unsure of how to tell her that she just _ate the devil._

"What's got you so worked up?"

Correction: I was unsure of how to tell her she just ate the devil _without knowing so._

"You just ate a Devil Fruit!"

She froze in shock, staring at me. I stared back and braced for the panic that was sure to come. She seemed to have shorted out, since she wasn't moving or reacting at all. I took small steps towards her, holding out the other Devil Fruit for her to see, "S-See...? This... This is a Devil Fruit too..."

Once she realized I wasn't kidding, her eyes grew as big as my own, "Wait, _WHAT_?!"

"Y-You ate a Devil Fruit!"

"Wait… A Devil Fruit…? Does that mean…?"

"If that thing was legit, then yes, we're in One Piece!"

We both stood in shocked silence as we slowly realized that we somehow ended up in one of the most popular manga _ever_. My mind spun with the possibilities. Could we meet Luffy and his crew…? I shook my head, trying to focus on the problem at hand, "How could you not tell you ate a Devil Fruit?! They supposedly taste _horrible_!"

"Well, now that you mention it…"

"Oh, so you notice _now_?!"

"I was _hungry_~!" I face palmed and let out a heavy sigh, completely drained.

My hand ran down my face, staring at her as my curiosity took over, "…So how do you feel?"

She looked offended, "What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Well, does your body feel any different?"

"I'd feel energized if that apple didn't taste so horrible. Y'know, the normal effects of food and all that?"

I sighed again, my shoulders slumping, "That's _not_ very helpful."

She shrugged and I rolled my eyes, "Fine. Be that way. I can find this out on my own."

So I slapped her butt. _Hard_. She yelped in pain and covered her butt, glowering at me. I nodded, "Okay, so not a Logia."

"The hell?! _That's_ what that was for?!"

"Well, kinda. You were being unhelpful, so I decided to figure things out for myself."

She glared at me and I smirked back. She snarled angrily, her teeth shifting into sharp fangs. She froze, her lips stretched awkwardly due to her new jaw. My eyes widened and I stared at her new set of teeth.

"Uh… I think we just found out what type you are…"

"…Wew dis is new…" Her voice was lisp-y as she tried to talk with her new teeth, "Don' tew meh I'm a 'ampire…"

"Doubtful," I responded, easily understanding her even with the lisp, "Vampires would fall under the Paramecia type… I think…"

I reached to poke her new fangs only to get my fingers snapped at with an annoyed glare. I pouted, but she ignored the pleading look, "An' wha' ruled dat ou'?"

I gave up on my pout and asked, "Well, do you thirst for blood?"

"No… Blooh shtill makes me squeamish…"

"Then there you go. You're probably a Zoan."

"Dat's nice… I guesh…"

I inspected her fangs, careful not to encroach on her space again, "Well, with the size of these fangs, you're most likely a carnivorous Zoan…" She suddenly gasped and I jumped back in surprise, thinking she'd hurt herself somehow. I relaxed when I noticed the excited gleam in her eyes.

"Do ya tink I'm a tigah?!" She asked, almost trembling in anxiousness.

"Well, it's possible," I conceded, "I don't remember anyone in the anime or manga having it." She looked about ready to squeal in excitement as I took a step back.

"Now, try to change."

Her excitement morphed into confusion, "Try ta change? How do I manage dat?"

"I dunno, it's not like I've ever been in this situation before."

She sighed, "…'Kay, I'll try ta tink of changin' into a tigah."

I nodded and she closed her eyes, focusing. I watched in amazement when her skin and body started to ripple and change. Her stance changed from a tall two-legged form to a crouched, long-bodied one. The transformation didn't take very long and I found myself staring at the result blankly, "…Well, you're no tiger, but you _are_ a big cat."

Unfortunately, that wasn't the answer she was looking for. Her excitement went up in fumes, "I'm not a tiger- Then what _am_ I?"

I shrugged, looking her over, "Well, cats aren't really my thing, but if I hadta guess… I'd say you were a cheetah."

"…I don't know how to reply to that…"

And I wasn't quite sure how to _react_ to this. What's the way you're _supposed_ to react when your younger sister morphs into an oversized cheetah?

"On the bright side, you look badass," I commented, looking at her spotted fur. Like most Devil Fruit users, her new form was larger than the average animal would be. Her body looked to be almost seven feet long and her fur was the same color as the cheetahs, but the differences were pretty evident. Her long hair rested along the curve of her spine, almost tickling her hips as some loose strands fell off her shoulders. Her clothes had morphed with her (thankfully) and her cold blue eyes stared at me as she grumbled, "On the down side, I can't swim."

"Is that really a loss in this situation, though?"

"Kelly, I actually _like_ swimming, unlike you… Well… _Liked_ swimming," She sighed in disappointment, "This is gonna take some getting used to…"

My ADHD kicked in and I realized her new form seemed _so familiar_ to me. I couldn't place where I'd seen her from, and it was driving me crazy. I frowned and continued looking her over, tilting my head in confusion.

"Actually, come to think of it, you look kinda familiar…"

"Oh, I didn't know you were friends with other cheetahs. Good to know."

"No, no, I swear, you almost look like-" I interrupted myself before I could finish the thought. I snorted and covered my mouth, trying really hard not to laugh.

"Almost like _who,_" She demanded, glaring at me, "I'd choose your words wisely."

A few bits of choked laughter escaped my lips. I tried to think of how to say it gently, but… I couldn't think of anything.

"D-Dude, you look like Lucci!" I choked out. I burst out laughing, tears welling up in my eyes.

She snarled at me, "Do you _want_ to get mauled?!"

I couldn't respond to her with how hard I was laughing. I found it hysterical that of _all_ the people in One Piece she could have looked like, she had to look like the one she hated with a passion.

"I-I'm sorry, but i-it's just so _funny_," I chuckled, calming down enough to speak, "You look like the guy you hate the most? Out of _all_ the other options? That shit's _priceless_." She glowered at me and shifted back to her human form. I wiped my eyes, coughing to try and cover up the rest of my laughs, "O-Okay, in all seriousness, what do we do now?"

"Finally get off this island, obviously," She retorted, stalking out of the room. Even though she was fuming, I could tell she wasn't _that_ mad at me. But I was still a bit nervous she was a bit upset, so I followed her as we navigated our way back out of the ship.

"And how do you suggest we do that?" I asked, jogging behind her to keep up.

"Find something actually useful, for one."

I stopped in the middle of the hall as a thought occurred to me, "…What if this other Devil Fruit is?"

She whirled to face me, "And what if you end up like me? What then?"

I couldn't think of a response.

"Exactly," She stated, continuing down the hall, "You should wait until we're off this island before you decide what you're gonna do with it."

I sighed in reluctance and mumbled a weak agreement. I followed her, still staring at the Devil Fruit. Lori had a good point (as usual), but what if the Fruit changed me into something useful? It would help us get off the island, for one. It also wouldn't really be bad for me since, as she said earlier, I don't like swimming. To add onto all that, I was _really_ curious what this Fruit would do to me.

"I'm gonna eat it, Lor'," I declared as we left the ship, "I mean, it can't get much worse than this, and we're gonna need all the help we can get at this point."

She turned to face me again, "Don't."

"Why not?"

"If we both end up in the water somehow, we're gonna drown."

I had my argument ready this time, "Well, even if I _can _swim, it's not like I'd be able to help you if you fell in. Devil Fruit users are called 'anchors' for a reason."

"Doesn't mean you should drown too."

"You _really_ think I'd just leave you to drown so I could save my own skin?" I asked, offended. She fell silent and I continued on, holding up the Devil Fruit for emphasis, "And think about it; what if this thing changes me into something useful?"

She crossed her arms and frowned, "The odds of that are rather small."

"But they _are_ there," I stated, narrowing my eyes, "Lori, we're already low on options at this point; I don't see how me eating a Devil Fruit can make things much worse."

"It can, and they will."

I glared, "Negative Nelly."

"I don't care what you think. Let's just keep looking for now," She replied, turning back around. She walked over to where I'd dropped my bow case; which was covered in a dusting of sand. I sighed and snatched up the case as we walked by, pulling the strap over my shoulder, "Well then, let's take stock of what we have on us."

I barely heard her as she muttered, "Which is pretty much nothing."

"Lori, if you keep talking like that, we're never gonna get off this island!" I snapped, glaring at her. She glared back, unfazed, "Well, all we really have at this point is your bow and the Devil Fruit. It's not negative; it's reality."

"You're not being realistic, you're just… giving up!"

"Giving up? The last thing I wanna do _now_ is give up."

"Then unknot your panties and try to look on the bright side!"

She rolled her eyes, "Optimism isn't gonna save us."

"But it'll help us come up with ideas that _will!_"

"I doubt it," She snorted, looking around us as I seethed in annoyance, "I'm going to go look for something _actually_ useful."

I huffed in frustration. She ignored me in favor of continuing into the woods. She bent plants and branches out of her path, disappearing into the thick foliage. I dropped my bag on the ground and turned my back to her. I plopped down on the grass, letting out another huff of anger. I closed my eyes took deep breaths to try and cool off before pulling everything out of my pockets. I spread everything out on the grass to take stock. I only found my sunglasses, my class ring, my iPod and my headphones in the many pockets.

But I hit the jackpot when I checked my bow case. In the end, I found about ten working arrows, twelve broken ones, the bow itself, vane cement, my dull Swiss Army knives, two pairs of safety glasses, an old rag, a bow sight that I've never really used, and some flattened and new target points for my arrows. As I was counting the good target points, I noticed that I missed something in one of the pocket. I saw an unusual bulge in a pocket I never really used. Frowning, I checked the pocket and was happily surprised.

"When did I put _this_ in here...?" I wondered, pulling out my Ocarina of Time replica. I'd gotten it this past Christmas as a present from my mother, since she knew how obsessed with the series I was. It was smaller than the actual ocarina was, but I loved it to death anyway. I checked it over thoroughly to make sure it didn't have any cracks or scratches on it. I tried to think of when I put this in my bow case, but came up with nothing.

"Well, this is a plus for me," I set the ocarina down on my bag, just to be sure I didn't get it dirty, "I don't even _care_ that I was an idiot for doing that." I checked all my pockets again to make sure I didn't miss anything else, but only found my useless paper targets and the bows' instruction manual. I nodded and glanced over what I'd found.

"This is _definitely _useful," I said, picking up my tube of vane cement, "This stuff is _crazy_ strong, considering I glued my fingers together and couldn't get them _un_stuck for nearly a day…"

I slid the small tube in my calf pocket before snatching up my Swiss Army knives, pulling them all out and inspecting the blades, "And these could be useful if I figured out how to sharpen them…"

I heard rustling sounds from behind me and turned to see Lori making her way back through the brush. She was empty-handed, glancing at me as she cleared the tree line. I turned back to my bag and slid the knives back into place, setting them down with the other stuff. I took a deep breath before asking, "You find anything?"

She rolled her eyes, "Does it _look_ like I found anything?"

I took another deep breath to keep myself calm and zipped up the pockets with a bit more force than necessary, "Well, I found a couple things in my bag. I still have a full tube of vane cement and my Swiss Army knives."

I turned to her, crossing my legs, "Would you know how to sharpen them?"

"Do _I_ know how to sharpen them?" She snorted. "Kelly, I only use butter knives at home."

"I figured as much…" I muttered, running a hand through my hair.

"Don't you know?"

"I never bothered to learn, since I never thought I'd have to use them."

With a heavy sigh, she shook her head. I smiled and chuckled a bit, shaking my head as well.

"Well, what now?" I asked. She crossed her arms and leaned against a nearby tree, "Well, the way I see it, we find some big logs, something to tie them together with, and make a raft."

My eyes widened, "Whoa, wait, you've made a raft before?"

"No. But there's a first time for everything, right?"

I face palmed and shook my head, "Of course…"

My hand fell into my lap and I glanced over at the Devil Fruit. It was resting next to my bag, the sun brightening its skin even more. Really, I couldn't see why she was so opposed to me eating the fruit. We really didn't have anything else going for us. As thoughts of eating it in secrecy floated through my mind, Lori followed my gaze.

"Fine, go ahead. I don't even care anymore." She relented, heading for the tree line as she continued, "May the odds be ever in your favor."

I pouted at her retreating back, "Hey, don't quote the Hunger Games at me! It's really depressing!"

"Our _situation_ is depressing."

I paused before shrugging in agreement. She disappeared into the brush yet again, probably looking for some logs. I turned my attention back to the Devil Fruit, staring before I picked it up. The pale brown skin was rough against my hands, but it was hard to tell since I was more focused on avoiding the dull spines that covered the fruit. I'd eaten a durian before, but I highly doubted that this would taste _anything_ like how I remembered.

"Okay. I can do this," I told myself, getting up and setting the fruit on the ground. I carefully stepped on it, thankful that my friend showed me how to open a durian back in high school. I slowly put pressure on the shell until I heard a loud crack. I moved my foot and checked the husk. A crack ran along the seam of the fruit, exposing some of the creamy white interior. I picked up the fruit and sat back down, pulling the husk open and staring at the swirl-covered fruit in front of me.

"Well, I guess there's no turning back now…" I muttered, pulling out a section of the fruit. I hesitated for a second before chomping off half of the fruit. I chewed slowly, fighting my gag reflex.

'Awful' was an understatement for what this thing tasted like.

The fruit tasted absolutely _disgusting_.

It was as if someone puked on shit and handed it to me in the shape of a fruit. I swallowed reluctantly before eating the rest of the fruit, one section at a time. By the time I finished my last bite, I was exhausted from having to fight the urge to throw it all back up. I fell back on the grass and closed my eyes, taking deep breaths to try and calm my stomach. It was at times like this that I hated having a weak stomach. Seriously, if I ate _anything _that I didn't like or didn't taste good, it was most likely coming back up.

After a few minutes of lying on the cool ground and taking deep steady breaths, my stomach settled. I opened my eyes, staring at the fading blue sky.

I did it. I ate the Devil Fruit.

…So what then? Since I had no clue what the Fruit was, I had no idea what to look for. I sighed and got up, taking deep breaths to ensure my stomach stayed calm. I decided to just eliminating obvious ideas right away. So I started by stretching my body every which way to test for anything new. I even pinched and slapped myself in hopes of finding something, but found nothing.

I was bending over to inspect my legs closely when I heard a snort behind me. I looked through my legs to see Lori smirking at me, holding up the end to a large log.

"I don't think that's helping," She teased, setting down the log and walking over.

A pout crossed my face as I straightened up, "Well, what do you _want_ me to do?"

"Not look like a total idiot."

"I dunno how to test otherwise!"

She snickered again, "Smack your own ass."

"I already did!"

"…Well, that's a little freaky."

I rolled my eyes as she continued, "Why don't I try to get you mad? See if you grow fangs?"

"Dude, I don't really _get_ angry," I reminded her, crossing my arms with an unsure frown, "I get frustrated and annoyed, sure, but rarely _angry_."

"Think of Danni from volleyball!"

"Frustration more than anger."

She paused, "…So what now?"

I gaped at her, "What the- That's all you had?!"

"Well, I could get you _depressed_, but that's not gonna help."

I resisted the urge to face palm and sighed. She stared at me and asked again, "So what now?"

"I dunno."

We stood in silence and I started twisting my ring on my finger. I stared at the blue gemstone, trying to figure out what I could possibly be. Lori smirked at me, gaining my attention. I tilted my head, pausing to give her a confused frown. She chuckled, "You could look like _MISTER_ Pig."

"At least I don't look like Mr. Pussy!" I retorted sharply, my mouth running before I could stop it. She froze up and narrowed her eyes as what I said sank in.

"…Too far?"

"What do you think?" She growled, claws growing from her fingernails. I laughed nervously and slowly inched my way around her, "Well, I'm just gonna go now…"

I didn't wait for a response and took off, running as fast as I could through the thick brush. I heard her snarl in anger as I jumped over a fallen log, sprinting through the tall grass. My breath left me in gasps. I fought my way through the woods, trying to ignore the feeling of impending doom.

"Best plan ever, dumbass," I panted, glancing over my shoulder to see where she was, "Insult a carnivorous Zoan while they still don't have control of their emotions, that's the _best_ way to die!"

I turned back to the path in front of me, keeping an eye on the ground ahead so I wouldn't trip on any roots or plants. I ran even faster when her heavy footfalls changed to a padded gallop, signaling her full transformation. I felt my adrenaline kick in and poured on the speed. I gasped for air as I weaved around the trees.

I skidded to a stop at the edge of a cliff, pebbles tumbling off the edge. My acrophobia didn't even get time to act up before Lori broke through the brush behind me. I turned to face her and saw that her devil had completely taken over; her normally round pupils slit in feral anger. I took a nervous step back only to wobble on the edge of the cliff, barely regaining my balance in time. I looked over my shoulder at the steep drop before facing my sister. My options seemed pretty grim.

Attempt to fight my currently overpowered sister.

Or try to survive jumping off the cliff.

I took a deep breath and made the biggest gamble of my life, "See ya!"

I spun around and jumped before she could stop me. I heard her snarl in anger as the wind yanked my hat from my head, my short hair ruffling in the wind. I was falling fast to the cold ground below me; picking up speed the further I fell. A cold fear seeped through my veins when I was about thirty feet from my fate. My eyes widened and I braced for impact, spreading my arms in hopes of slowing down.

What I didn't expect was for that plan to actually _work_.

Just as I spread my arms, they shifted into huge black and white wings.

I blanched in shock, gliding to the ground at a much safer speed, "What the-?!" I didn't even get time to finish my sentence before I slammed into the ground. The momentum of my glide caused me to tumble and roll in a mess of feathers and limbs until I crashed into a tree. A couple leaves fell on me as I wheezed in pain. My legs fell over my head, the rough bark carving new scratches on my back and the tips of my shoes grazing the ground. I tried to blink away the spots in my vision, looking up at the sky.

"…The hell just happened?" I wondered, reluctant to move anytime soon. But when I heard something climbing down the cliff, I was quick to look over. With how I was laying, I couldn't see much, other than the fading blue sky and the leaves of the trees. I tried to straighten myself out without the use of my hands, but it was harder than I thought it'd be. Luckily, it seemed as though my stunt had snapped Lori out of her trance, since she was currently climbing down the cliff in her human form. She leapt the final few feet to the ground and stared in shock as I finally managed to roll myself into a sitting position.

"What da_ fuq_ was that?!" She asked, helping me to my feet.

I winced as my muscles groaning in protest, "I dunno… I was just trying to slow myself down when… _this_ happened."

She helped me extend my new 'arms' and we examined them in interest. The feathers seemed to be white with black spots all over them but it was hard to tell, since they were almost equal parts black and white. My wingspan seemed to be big enough to allow me to fly, but with my last performance, I wasn't so sure I could.

"Do you think I can fly?" I asked, moving the tips of my wings. They felt as though they were my fingers, but I couldn't flex them like I could with my fingers. She shrugged, "Well, you didn't exactly _fly_ just now… Do you think you're a chicken?"

"Only one way to find out. Step back."

She complied and I closed my eyes, recalling all the birds that I knew of. As I scrolled through the list, I could feel my skin shift and sprout feathers. My mouth extended into the shape of a sharp beak. Once I felt my body settle in its new form, I carefully opened my eyes. I twitched in surprise; my new eyes made the details around me sharper. I could also see farther than I could with my human vision, spotting details that I couldn't when I was in my human form.

I took a deep breath and shifted my weight onto my back talons, looking down at my sister. This was also a new concept, since Lori was taller than me. But I wasn't that much taller than her in this new form, given that my eye level was just above hers. I tilted my head at her thoughtful expression, "Well?"

"You look like a bird."

I face faulted. She stared at me as I stood back up, eye twitching in annoyance, "Can you tell what _kind_ of bird I am?"

"No," She replied as bluntly as before, inspecting my new form. I let out a heavy sigh and shook my head, "Then let's find a place where I can see my reflection."

"Why? Let's just go."

I changed back to my human form, "I'd like to know if I changed in to a bird that can fly so we're not giving ourselves false hope."

She rolled her eyes, "You look like a hawk or a falcon, and you _definitely_ wouldn't be flightless with that wingspan."

"Hey, a big wingspan doesn't automatically mean flight is an option… Although, I've never heard of a hawk or a falcon that was flightless, so that's good..." I frowned as another thought occurred to me, "How do you think I should learn to fly?"

She smirked, sending a chill down my spine, "Let's climb back up the cliff and I'll show you~"

I gulped, "I have a _strong_ feeling I shouldn't let you near me while I learn…"

"C'mon, moms push the child out of the nest, right? It's sink or swim~"

"So you're gonna try to kill me. Yeah, _definitely_ training on my own."

She laughed and turned to climb back up the cliff. I glared at her back before picking up my fallen hat. I dusted it off and pulled it back on, following her up the cliff face. When we reached the top, I watched as she continued to walk towards the woods.

"Where are you going?" I asked, curious.

She shrugged, looking at me, "I dunno. Take a nap? This has been exhausting."

I sighed, shaking my head, "Why don't you do something useful? Like make a camp? Or find food and water?"

"…Can I do that after? I mean, we have the time."

I thought about it before sighing in reluctance, changing to my new form, "Fine, just finish them before it gets dark, okay?"

"No prob~" She purred, stretching her arms as I turned back to the ledge. She continued walking through the forest, most likely heading back to where I'd left my bag. I watched her until I could no longer see her, paranoid after her words from earlier. Once I was sure I was by myself, I turned my attention back to the cliff. My acrophobia screamed at me to just turn and follow her, but I batted down the fear and took a deep breath. I spread my wings and jumped off the cliff before I could change my mind.

And that's how my five days of hell began.

_Ending Theme: Demons by Imagine Dragons_

* * *

_Honestly, working with Lori is a challenge. She makes fun of me a lot (even though she's weaker than me and I'm_ _her freaking older sister, and _she should show me some respect, god dammit_)._

_But I guess that's the life of an older sister, huh?_

_Again, feel free to leave a review and let me know what you think! :)_

_I think I'll keep the updates to once a week. What do y'all think of that? Sound fair?_

_Love you all~_

_Haruhi_


	4. Chapter 3: Dancing with the Devils

_Dudes and Dudettes!_

_ARE YOU READY TO RUMBLE- *Lori smacks me over the head*_

_L: Focus, dumbass._

_*sobs* She's so mean to me..._

_Y'know one of these days, I'm gonna end up updating faster for all you lovely readers. But for now, we all have to settle for once a week. So I don't lose all my friends in the process of speed-writing._

_..._

_Hmm? 'What about school' you ask?_

_..._

_*sobs* I-I'd rather not talk about it..._

_Thanks to WateRipplE, pan94, Warriors Will, waitinggamer and QuestionsxAndxAnswers for adding this to their alerts! It makes me so happy that you're interested!_

_Another thanks to Freddie4153, pan94 and DorkyFox for adding this to their favorites! Even though this story hasn't even gotten very far, I'm glad you're enjoying it already~!_

_OH! Just FYI, _"this" _is English and _"(this)"_ is Japanese._

_Okay, here's another chapter for all you lovely people~ Enjoy~_

* * *

**_XxFire-PhoenixxX: _**_I actually _did_ give that some thought a while ago (I have most of the story already planned out), but the place where Kelly and Lori ended up and where he is are totally different, so the odds of them running into him are slim to none. But I appreciate the idea! And thanks,I'lldomybesttokeepyouhappy!_

**_Freddie4153: _**_I will! I mean, unless something happens to me or there's an emergency I need to handle, I plan on updating every week!_

**_DorkyFox:_**_ Thanks! Lori and I took _forever_ thinking of what Devil Fruits hadn't been taken and weren't used in other fanfictions. We also tried to avoid Logia if possible; since they're kinda rare. Also trying not to be Mary Sues and all that, lol_

* * *

**_Disclaimer: Hey, if I owned One Piece then (obligatory spoiler cancelling noises) wouldn't have happened, and we'd all be MUCH happier. But then it wouldn't really BE One Piece... Oh, I also don't own any references Lori or Kelly make. Yeah, that too._**

* * *

_Intro Theme: Fight Together by Namie Amuro_

**_~Day 1~_**

After a long, exhausting afternoon of learning how to fly, I wearily trudged through the brush to where our camp was.

Well... Where our camp was _supposed_ to be.

"Lori, what the hell?!" I yelled, seeing her just waking up from her nap, "You were _supposed_ to be making a camp and getting us food!" She yawned, stretching before getting up, "I'm getting to it, calm down."

"It's after sunset! It's too late now!" I scolded, "You didn't even set up a fire!"

"Oh, I'm sorry; I didn't realize there was a curfew."

"_It's common sense to make a fire before dark!_"

"When's the last time we used that?"

I let out an ineligible shriek, stomping on the ground, "You had one job, Lori! _One!_"

"And I'm getting to it now."

"How do you expect to find anything when it's this dark out?!" I asked, gesturing to our barely visible surroundings. She rolled her eyes, "It's dark, not pitch black. They'll still be visible."

I watched her as she turned to make her way through the dark woods and sighed, "…Call if you need help, okay?"

"I'll be fine," She called back, "I have my flashlight, unless you forgot." She pulled out her phone from her hoodie pocket and turned on the flashlight, illuminating our camp. I huffed when I noticed her smirking at me, "You totally forgot, didn't you?"

"Shut up."

She laughed and wandered into the woods, leaving me to stew in my embarrassment. I lay down on the cold ground, pulling over my bow case and using it as a make-shift pillow. I was thankful that I was wearing long cargo pants and my favorite Legend of Zelda hoodie when a cold breeze swept by. But then I remembered that Lori didn't have much to keep herself warm, seeing as how she was only wearing a light hoodie, Soffe shorts and her swimsuit underneath.

I sighed and pulled off my hoodie, leaving it out for her to use later. I curled up and tried to get as comfortable as I could, grumbling, "This sucks..."

* * *

**_~Day 2~_**

I panted lightly from exhaustion, bracing my hands on my knees as I tried to catch my breath. I used my Trafalgar Law pre-time skip t-shirt as a rag to wipe some of the sweat off my face. I had been working for a couple of hours on flying, only to be met with mixed results. While I was getting better at controlling my shifted form, all I really accomplished was how to control my glided falls.

I turned back to the cliff wall and started climbing my way back up, determined to try yet again. Instead of risking injuries trying to fly back up, I decided it would be better to climb. Not only was it safer, but it helped me train (in a way) to improve my stamina. When I pulled myself up over the edge, I heard soft snickering coming from the tree line. I looked over to find Lori sitting against the trunk of a tree, relaxed and smirking. I glared at her when I noticed she was wearing my hat and using my hoodie as a seat cushion.

"You're supposed to be gathering stuff for our camp," I scolded, hanging my shirt over my shoulder and re-adjusting my black sports bra. She scoffed, "I'll get to it, but this is _way_ too entertaining for me to pass up."

"How did I know you were going to say that?" I sighed, crossing my arms. She grinned as I looked back at the cliff. Now that I was working on flying, it was slowly helping me overcome my acrophobia. While I was still terrified of looking straight down, I no longer felt dizzy or nauseous when I looked off the cliff.

"Have you practiced using your cheetah form?" I asked, still looking at the horizon.

"Yeah, it's really cool! I'm a motha fuckin' _cheetah!_" She exclaimed, her eyes alight with excitement. I turned to her with a smile as she continued, "I can run so fast…! Although… my turning could use some work… I've never had a tail before, so I gotta learn how to use it."

I nodded, "Yeah, I could understand that sentiment. Except I have a whole new body to learn, while you just have a tail." She snickered as I turned to the cliff, changing to my other form. I was about to jump when she called out, "Hey, hold up!"

I frowned and looked at her, watching as she messed with her phone, "What?"

"I have the _perfect_ song to help you with your training~" She laughed and held up her phone so I could hear it.

**_I believe I can fly~_**

I glowered at her, throwing my shirt at her face, "Not cool."

She broke out into more laughter, catching my shirt and smirking at me, "Oh, sorry, did you want me to sing the abridged version for you?"

"No. Neither are helpful."

"_I believe you can die~_"

"Seriously, this is supposed to help?"

"_I believe I will stab your thigh~_"

"Come near me, and _you're_ the one going off this cliff."

My comments only sent her into another round of laughter. I rolled my eyes and turned to the cliff, opting to ignore her for the rest of my training.

It didn't help that she put that damn song on loop the entire time.

* * *

**_~Day 3~_**

I returned to camp that evening only to find that yet again, Lori had failed to gather any food or water. I snapped again, "Lori, seriously?! I told you to gather food and water for the camp!"

She rolled her eyes, "You make it seem like it's _so_ easy to get them."

"Food shouldn't be that hard to find! I can understand why you don't bring back water, but no food?! At _all_?!"

"It's not an unlimited resource; we're gonna run low eventually."

I sighed, turning to head back into the woods, "If I find something edible within ten minutes, I'm firing you."

"That's fine," She leaned back against the tree, crossing her arms behind her head, "You're not even paying me." I ignored her, shifting to my Zoan form and taking off shakily and gliding over the trees. I hunted for a while before returning to camp with a large fish I'd caught from a nearby river.

"Fired," I stated, dropping the dead fish on the ground, "Now cook me dinner."

"How'd you catch that so easily?!"

"Dude, I'm a bird of prey. Instinctively, I know how to fish," I snorted, walking over to my 'bed' and sprawling out as Lori tried to prepare the fish. I pulled my ocarina from my bag and started to play, staring up at the sky. As I played the familiar tune of 'The Song of Storms', I wondered how close we were to the nearest island. I wasn't all that strong, so there wasn't any way for me to carry Lori for long distances.

But as I continued to ponder that idea, our camp was filled with the smell of roasted fish. Effectively distracted, I turned to see Lori pulling some of the fish out of the fire, holding the cooked result on the end of a stick. I got up and sat next to her, taking a piece for myself to eat. We sat in silence as we ate, watching the fire. After a few minutes of silence, I finally asked, "Do you think that I should tow a raft? So we have a back-up plan in case I get tired?"

I picked my bone clean as she looked at me, "Wouldn't it be really hard to tow a raft _and _carry me?"

"Well, yeah, but what if the island is further than I can fly?" I responded, laying back and staring at the starry sky, "We'd both fall and drown. Besides, doesn't physics say that towing you would be easier than carrying you or something?"

"Not if there are rough waves," She retorted, finishing the last of her food, "Besides, I haven't taken enough physics to tell you for sure."

I nodded, counting the stars as I tried to think of a solution. While I was no physics major like my other sister, Lisa, I could figure enough out to try and get us out of this situation. Finally, I announced, "Then we leave during a calm day. I'll tow a raft if we can, but if it gets too bad, I'll ditch it. Sound good?"

She glared at me, "And since you're _so_ busy with flying, I'm gonna have to build the raft."

"Well, you said it wouldn't be that hard~" I teased, smirking at her. I laughed at her angry expression before sitting up, "Naw, I've pretty much learned all I can, so we can start building tomorrow."

* * *

**_~Day 4~_**

"Well, so much for _that_ plan…" I grumbled, glaring at the rain from under our relatively dry shelter. After I felt the first few drops of rain, I managed to bend enough branches over my bed that they made for a decent roof. When the rain got heavier, Lori took refuge under my shelter as well, causing us to sit practically on top of one another. We managed to patch up a few leaks from under the shelter, but realized that we needed to form a better plan than 'get off the island'. I was thankful that it wasn't a thunderstorm, but it was raining too heavily for us to be able to get any work done.

For example, like building a raft.

"Well, we aren't exactly pro raft builders, so I doubt it would've turned out well," Lori stated, sprawled out behind me. I sighed, leaning back against her bony hips as I looked up at the branches keeping us dry. She made a good point, but with that declaration, it left us back at square one. How were we gonna get off this island? I couldn't come up with any other ideas; it made it more difficult considering we couldn't touch the water.

"Hey, what happens if we run into Luffy and the Straw Hats?" I wondered aloud, still trying to think of a solution, "Should we stick with them or avoid them?"

Lori sighed in disappointment, "As much as I wanna say we should go with them, we should probably avoid them. We don't wanna mess with the plot, or who _knows_ what could happen."

I sighed as well, "Yeah, good point… Although what should we do if Luffy invites us? I mean, you know how he can be…"

"We give him some meat and tell him to leave us the fuck alone," She responded, still staring out at the dreary scenery. I laughed, "He's still gonna demand we come."

"We run while he's distracted for those 2 seconds he's eating."

I laughed harder, leaning back against her and looking at the remains of our camp. "Should we come up with fake names or something?" I asked, glancing at her.

She shrugged, "That might work… I dunno when we'd use them, though."

I turned my attention back out to the rain, "Well, think of it like this; this is our new life and we gotta get a new identity. Kinda like we're fugitives and making aliases for ourselves."

"…So like cops and robbers?"

"Yeah, except we don't have any drugs to sell."

"Damn, and I totally had your drug-selling music too…"

We glanced at each other before breaking out into laughter, leaning against each other for support. We managed to calm down after a while, still relaxed under our crappy shelter.

"But seriously, should we make up new names?" I asked, playing with her hair.

"I don't really how'd they'd come in handy."

"Well, I'm still calling myself Haruhi. You're free to do what you want."

She sighed, "Fine, I guess I'll change my name since you're changing yours."

"What's your name gonna be?"

"No idea. Lemme think about it."

I nodded and stared at our runny roof, humming 'Bink's Sake' under my breath. Soon, I found that I'd made horrible knots out of hair and tried to untangle them. I gave up quickly though, realizing that she wouldn't be able to tell anyway. I paused in my humming as another thought floated across my mind, "…Lor'?"

"Yeah?"

"…Do you think there's a way for us to get home…?"

She sat silently, staring out at the rain. I looked at her, trying not to worry too much, "I mean, if we managed to get here somehow, there gotta be a way back… Right…?"

"…I honestly don't know," She replied.

I sighed, laying my head back against her bony shoulder, "I thought so… So much for wishful thinking…"

* * *

**_~Day 5 (Dawn of the Final Day)~_**

In the end, Lori and I decided it would be better to just ignore the raft idea altogether. If we really were that far away from another island, it was doubtful the raft would survive long enough anyway. I stretched my arms out, trying to ignore the pin-prick feeling of numbness coming from my fingertips. Looking out at the horizon, I was pleased with how nice the weather was; the cooling breeze made it my ideal perfect day. I beamed up at the clear blue sky and slapped my hat on my head, excited for the new adventure. I heard the sand shifting next to me and turned to see Lori pulling my bag over her shoulder.

"You ready to go, 'Johanna'?" I asked, placing my hands on my hips. She rolled her eyes, "Sure, 'Haruhi'."

I beamed at her, shifting into my Zoan form, "Alrighty, let's go~"

"…I swear to God, if you drop me…" She grumbled, warily climbing onto my back.

I just smiled at her over my shoulder, waiting until I could feel her hands grab my feathers. Once she was settled, I spread my wings and took off, cackling when I felt her grip tighten. I leveled out slowly, gliding along the cool breeze as we drifted further away from the island. Once the island finally faded over the horizon, I felt her grip relax.

I smiled as a couple seagulls joined us in flight. I grinned at them, flapping carefully so I didn't hit any of them. Even though I was avoiding looking down at all costs, this was pretty relaxing.

"…At least I'm not afraid of heights," She grumbled, embarrassed. I laughed, "That had to be the _worst_ part of my training. I'm still not quite over it."

"Oh dear God, this is going to be interesting."

I glared at the horizon, knowing that she knew I couldn't turn and respond. I felt a smirk grow as I thought of another way to retaliate. I folded my wings, letting us dive down towards the water at increasingly terrifying speeds. I laughed harder when I heard her scream.

"_UP!_ _Go UP, you stupid bird!_" She shrieked, slapping my back hard. I grinned and snapped my wings back out, streaking over the choppy ocean waters. I was careful not to touch the water as we sped over the surface, and I took the opportunity to look at my reflection. Although it was choppy, I could faintly make out my black and white figure, the only truly white part of my body being my tail feathers. Unless I was in a snowy environment, I was gonna end up sticking out like a sore thumb.

Admiring my reflection for the last time, I pumped my wings hard, bringing us back up to a safe height. I chuckled when I felt her finally her grip loosen up, "Enjoying the ride?"

"F-Fuck you, you useless bird," She snapped, smacking the back of my head.

"Hey, you're not supposed to hit the driver!"

"You're not driving, you're flying. There's a difference."

"Either way, _your_ life is in _my_ hands."

"Yeah, don't scare me even more."

I narrowed my eyes, "Wanna go diving again?"

She fell silent at that.

Smirking victoriously, I focused my attention back onto the ever-expanding horizon, keeping a watchful eye out for any land masses. After a few minutes of flying in silence, Lori turned on her iPod, letting her music drift through the air on the same breeze we were riding.

It didn't feel like we were flying all that long when I spotted something unusual along the horizon. I narrowed my eyes, trying to focus on the object growing in the distance.

"…Is that…?" I wondered aloud, flying towards it. Lori seemed as surprised as me. An island took shape before our eyes, revealing a white beach that looked similar to the one we had on the previous island.

"God, I hope I didn't fly us in a circle…" I prayed nervously, flapping a bit harder to gain speed. When I saw houses and people take shape on the island, I sighed in relief.

"Hey, don't land in the village," Lori said, turning off her music, "We don't need people thinking we're weirder than we actually are."

I rolled my eyes, but obeyed her anyway. I glided over to the empty beach and landed carefully, closing my eyes to avoid getting sand in them. Once my talons dug into the soft sand, I felt Lori practically dive off my back, sobbing in relief, "Sweet, beautiful land…"

"Hey, it wasn't that bad, you big baby," I retorted, changing back to my human form. She turned to respond when something over my shoulder caught her eye. I turned around, curious as to what got her attention when I realized that by gliding over the village, we'd alarmed a few people.

And by 'a few people', I meant the_ whole freaking village_.

"…Well, this is incredibly awkward," I mumbled, looking nervously at the gawking villagers, "Do you think they think we're a threat?"

Staring at the villagers, Lori said, "Doubtful. They look more like they're gonna piss themselves, if anything."

I took a deep breath, stepping forward and forcing a smile on my face, "Hey there…"

That caused a bigger reaction than I thought it would. Suddenly, a group of kids yelled in excitement and ran forward, ignoring their parents grabbing at their hands. I jumped in surprise as they charged at us, tensing in case they decided to tackle me over. The kids (luckily) decided to spare me the pain and circled us, babbling excitedly.

Another thing I didn't expect was for them to be speaking another _language_.

I blanched as the kids spewed out Japanese at high rates, making it impossible for me to decipher what they were saying. I turned to Lori in shock. Lori just stared at the children before raising her hand in the universal 'we come in peace' symbol. The kids stared in confusion as I hit her arm, glaring, "That's _not_ helping, idiot!"

"Well, I'm shit outta options. I don't speak Japanese."

I sighed heavily and turned to the kids, their eyes wide with wonder. I knelt to their level, smiling and trying to recall all the Japanese I was taught back in high school. "(Hello. Where is here?)" I asked in (probably) broken Japanese.

A little boy with ruffled black hair and a Band-Aid over his nose beamed at me, "(This is Opal Village. Who are you two?)"

"(My name is Haruhi. And this is my sister, Johanna.)"

The kids stared in so much awe I _swear_ I saw sparkles dancing around their heads. A little girl with braided red hair and freckles asked something, but I couldn't understand her. I smiled weakly, "(Sorry, our Japanese isn't very good…)"

The kids stared in confusion before the boy asked, "(What's Japanese?)"

"(Well, it's this language,)" I responded, "(We speak another language.)"

The kids seemed to get more excited and I sat down, glancing over at the nervous parents. I smiled and waved at them, trying to convey that we meant no harm. I turned to Lori and grabbed her arm, dragging her down next to me.

"Is it going well?" She asked, reluctantly sitting next to me, "'Cause if not, I vote we get the hell outta here."

"I guess so," I responded lowly, watching as the villagers started whispering among one another, "I mean, they haven't tried to attack us yet."

"How about asking the adults some questions? We don't need answers from pipsqueaks."

I glared at her, "Well, first off, these 'pipsqueaks' are actually helping me out. Second off, I doubt I'd be able to understand the adults' vocabulary. I can barely understand the kids."

She rolled her eyes, "At least have the kids tell them we come in peace."

"Gimme a minute and I will." I turned back to see the kids staring in awe again. I smiled nervously in response. They started asking a ton of questions again, making it impossible for me to translate any of them.

"(P-Please wait a moment,)" I spoke up, managing to quiet them down, "(I don't understand you…)"

"(Are you a bird?!)" The small girl asked. I saw Lori perk up at the word, "Wait, hold up, I'm following. We're talking about birds, right?"

I nodded at her before turning back to the girl, "(Well, kinda. I ate a Devil Fruit.)"

"(What's that?)" Another small boy asked, his brown eyes glinting in curiosity. Lori resumed her blank face, "And like that, you've lost me."

I elbowed her in the arm to get her to shut up, "(It's like… a magic fruit? It turned me into a bird.)"

The kids let out sounds of awe as I noticed one of the adults approaching our circle, putting on a brave front. I glanced at Lori and saw that she was eyeing him blankly. I turned my attention back to him, smiling, "(Hello.)"

He glared nervously down at Lori and me, the signs of crows' feet crinkling at the corners of his eyes, "(Who are you people)?"

I continued to smile, "(We are… travelers. We don't speak your language well…)"

The man seemed surprised at that information, "(Really?)"

I nodded, slowly standing up, "(Yes. We are not from this sea. What is this sea?)"

"(East Blue,)" He responded, relaxing. I nodded, seeing Lori stand from the corner of my eye, "(We don't have much…)"

The man seemed to understand where I was going with this and smiled, turning and gesturing to the town, "(Here, let's get you some food while we talk.)"

I paused, carefully translating what I could before nodding, smiling in thanks. I turned to Lori, "Okay, the dude's offering us food while I explain our situation."

"Bitchin', less work for me."

I rolled my eyes, following the man into the village, "That's only 'cause the only words you know are 'meat' and 'bird'."

"…We have Luffy to blame for that."

I laughed, letting the little girl grab my hand. We walked through the village and I attempted to ignore the stares as the kids followed us closely. We continued to follow the man while the kids asked me questions. I responded as best I could, but I could only understand half of them. The man seemed to be watching us carefully, as if trying to sense any animosity from us. I continued to smile while Lori followed me, ignoring the stares and the whispers easily.

While we were walking, I took the time to look around the village. While it certainly wasn't very big, there was no telling who could be living in a peaceful place like this. I took my time to carefully analyze the people, keeping my guard up. The villagers seemed to gossip like no tomorrow, but I didn't sense any bad vibes from them.

Although, that's only from the ones I could _see_.

After a few minutes, the man attempted to shoo off the children (much to their disappointment) and let Lori and I enter what seemed to be his house. When we entered, he talked to the kids briefly before closing the door after himself. Lori and I looked around as the man walked to the small kitchenette in the corner. There was a coffee table sitting in the middle of the room with a couple of shelves lining the walls. I could even see another room in the back, a bed peeking through the crack of the open door.

"(What would you like?)" The man asked as I led Lori over to the table. I pulled off my hat and sat down at the table before asking her, "There anything you want?"

"Some water would be nice." She replied, sitting in the chair next to me and setting our bag down. I nodded, setting my hat down on the table as I turned back to the man, "(Water, thank you.)"

The man smiled and nodded, bringing over two glasses of water and setting them in front of us. Lori took hers and sipped slowly, whereas I left mine untouched. "(What's your name?)" I asked, watching as the man prepared some tea for himself. The man smiled at me, "(My name is Tran. I'm the mayor of this village.)"

I nodded, sipping my water as he brought over a plate of biscuits. I looked at the food before taking one, eating slowly. Lori followed my example and ate a couple of the biscuits, looking between the man and me. I ignored her as the man poured himself some tea, sitting across from us.

"(Where are you from?)" He asked, choosing his words carefully so I'd understand. I hesitated before turning to Lori, "Where should we say we're from?"

Tran frowned in confusion as she responded, "Just say we're really _really_ lost."

"I don't know how to say that…" I mumbled, ruffling my hair.

She sighed, "Zoro would be so ashamed…"

"What the- Why would _he_ be ashamed?"

"He just would."

"(Um…?)"

I turned my attention back to Tran and smiled, "(We're from a small island.)"

"(Here in East Blue?)"

"(I don't know. We are from far away.)"

Tran frowned in confusion, trying to see if I was lying or not. I continued to smile as I finished off the biscuit and reached for another one, only to touch the empty plate. I frowned and turned to Lori, who was currently munching on the last one, "What the hell, fatty, I wanted another one!"

"No way in hell. I want this."

"You ate the whole damn plate, so gimme!"

She just smirked and finished off the biscuit. I screeched in anger and was about to wring her neck- _grab her shoulder_ when Tran said, "(I have more. Would you like them?)"

"(Please?)" I begged, pouting and returning my hands to my lap. Lori continued to smirk at me and Tran smiled, taking the plate and getting up. He walked over to the kitchenette and while his back was turned, I shot Lori a nasty glare. She ignored me as she finished off her water.

"(Are you two visiting?)" He asked, putting more biscuits on the plate. I nodded, "(Yes, if that's okay.)"

Tran smiled, setting the plate back down on the table, "(You can stay as long as you like.)"

My eyes widened, "(Really?)"

"(Yes.)"

I cheered happily, standing up from my chair and startling them both.

"(Thank you so much!)" I said, remembering to bow to him. Tran laughed and waved me off, "(It's no problem.)"

Lori looked between us, confused, "The hell is going on?"

"Tran said we could stay!"

"Really? Tell him thanks."

"I already did."

She nodded, finishing her biscuit as I turned back to Tran, "(Where can we stay?)"

"(The inn isn't too far. I can show you the way.)" He said, getting up from his seat. I nodded and helped him pick up the dirty dishes, walking them over to the sink. Lori just sat at the table and watched us as we chatted over the sink, munching on the few remaining biscuits. Once we finished cleaning, Tran asked, "(Do you want to meet the villagers, too?)"

"(Please?)"

He smiled and nodded, heading towards the door. I walked over to the table and grabbed my hat, "Johanna, we're going to the inn and meeting the villagers."

"Do we ha~ve to…?"

I rolled my eyes and picked up my bag, pulling on my hat, "Whatever. You can do what you want, I'm going."

I left with Tran, who was kind enough to wait at the door for us. I smirked when I heard Lori sigh and follow us. I looked to find her walking next to us, staring at the path ahead. "Thought you weren't gonna come," I snickered, handing her my bag.

"Shut up."

I laughed loudly and walked with them, humming 'Bink's Sake' to myself. Tran seemed recognized the tune and looked at me, surprised, "(That song…)"

I froze up, realizing that this town might hate pirates, "(Uh, I heard it on our travels…)"

"(Don't worry,)" He reassured, smiling at me, "(Pirates are welcome here.)"

"(Really?)"

He nodded and I sighed in relief. I hummed the song louder now that I knew it was safe. While we were walking, I even heard some of the other villagers sing with me. I was beaming by the time we entered the bar, throwing the door open. Lori could tell what was about to happen, "Wait, don't-"

"_Yo-hohoho~ Yo-hohoho~!_" I sang proudly. I glowed with excitement when the small band on stage picked up the song with me.

**_Yo-hohoho~ Yo-hohoho~!_**

**_Yo-hohoho~ Yo-hohoho~!_**

**_Yo-hohoho~ Yo-hohoho~!_**

I could hear Lori sigh behind me as the people in the bar sang with me, laughing and holding up their drinks.

**_Binkusu no sake wo, todoke ni yuku yo!_**

**_Umikaze, kimakase, namimakase~!_**

**_Shio no mukou de, yuuhi mo sawagu!_**

**_Sora nya, wa wo kaku tori no uta~!_**

I danced with some of the people in the bar and sang loudly, the bar growing louder and louder with every verse. Tran even started singing too, although he refused to dance.

**_Sayonara minato, tsumugi no sato yo!_**

**_DON to icchou utao, funade no uta~!_**

**_Kinpa-ginpa mo shibuki ni kaete!_**

**_Oretacha yuku zo, umi no kagiri~!_**

Lori refused to take part in this at all_. _She chose to sit at the bar and watch me with a scowl.

Lame.

**_Binkusu no sake wo, todoke ni yuku yo!_**

**_Warera kaizoku, umi watteku~!_**

**_Nami wo makura ni, negura wa fune yo!_**

**_Ho ni hata ni ketateru wa dokuro~!_**

I politely refused the beer offered to me, knowing how much of a light-weight I was. I spun around and smiled.

**_Arashi ga kita zo, senri no sora ni!_**

**_Nami ga odoru yo, DORAMU narase~!_**

**_Okubyoukaze ni fukarerya saigo!_**

**_Asu no asahi ga nai ja nashi~!_**

I beamed at the man I was dancing with, singing at the top of my lungs. By this point, the song had drawn the attention of the people outside the bar.

**_Yo-hohoho~ Yo-hohoho~!_**

**_Yo-hohoho~ Yo-hohoho~!_**

**_Yo-hohoho~ Yo-hohoho~!_**

**_Yo-hohoho~ Yo-hohoho~!_**

The sound seemed to be infectious, drawing numerous people into the rhythm as well. From where I was, I could see some of the people outside even start to dance themselves.

**_Binkusu no sake wo, todoke ni yuku yo!_**

**_Kyou ka asu ka to yoi no yume~!_**

**_Te wo furu kage ni, mou aenai yo!_**

**_Nani wo kuyokuyo, asu mo tsukuyo~!_**

The sheer volume of our singing echoed across the town, annoying the hell out of Lori. I laughed when I saw her put on her headphones in an attempt to drown us out.

**_Bikusu no sake wo, todoke ni yuku yo!_**

**_DON to icchou utao, unaba no uta~!_**

**_Douse dare demo itsuka wa hone yo!_**

**_Hatenashi, atenashi, waraibanashi~!_**

I'd never felt this into a song before. I swung around and danced with another person in the bar, the lady obviously a bit drunk.

**_Yo-hohoho~ Yo-hohoho~!_**

**_Yo-hohoho~ Yo-hohoho~!_**

**_Yo-hohoho~ Yo-hohoho~!_**

**_Yo-hohoho~ Yo-hohoho~!_**

I looked at the band, motioning for them to keep going. They saw me and started up the song again. It felt like the whole village was singing by now, the various voices nearly drowning out the band. I laughed and continued dancing with the people in the bar, ignoring the fact that I would probably be mute by tomorrow. We continued singing and dancing for hours, and even when we struck up the song for what felt like the tenth time, I knew at least_ I_ was gonna enjoy my time here.

_Ending Theme: Demons by Imagine Dragons_

* * *

_Seriously, Bink's Sake is one of my favorite songs. My sister actually knows half the song because of how often I listen to it. It's a little depressing... but that won't stop me from playing it on loop for hours. :3_

_Feel free to leave a review leaving questions/comments/etc! I'll be happy to respond!_

_Love you all~_

_Haruhi_


	5. Chapter 4: Joining the Mile High Club

_(Insert witty commentary here to keep you all entertained)_

_..._

_What? I'm not _that_ creative. I can't come up with new funny material each week, outside of the story. I mean, I can _try_, but you'll end up laughing at me rather than the jokes._

_On another note, if you noticed, I'm uploading this a bit early. I'm gonna be busy all day tomorrow, so I decided earlier was better than later!_

_Thanks to Quaarus and SkyLion27 for adding this story to their favs! I'm happy you're enjoying it!_

_SPECIAL THANKS TO RuskiRaikage FOR ADDING THIS STORY NOT ONLY TO THEIR FAVS AND ALERTS, BUT ADDING ME TO THEIR FAVS AND ALERTS! I HAVE NO WORDS FOR HOW MUCH THAT MEANS TO ME!_

_Okay, I KNOW this is going to be confusing, but now _"this" _is JAPANESE and _"(this)" _is ENGLISH. Sorry 'bout that._

_Well, that's all for now! Enjoy the new chapter!_

* * *

**_QuirkyFox:_**_ You changed your name, I almost didn't recognize you, lol. But thanks for the compliment! I'll try to keep you impressed!_

**_XxFire-PhoenixxX:_**_ Yeah, Bink's Sake is the song Brook wants to sing for Laboon! I love the song a lot; I have the Straw Hat version on my iPod. Check it out on YouTube or something, you'll get hooked too! And tanks, I'll do ma best!_

* * *

**_Disclaimer: Seriously, how many times do I have to say this...? It depresses me more each time... *sobs* I-I own only this story idea and Kelly... Lori is my sister and yelled at me when I said I owned her..._**

* * *

_Intro Theme: Fight Together by Namie Amuro_

Living in Opal village was actually a lot better than I thought it'd be. While the language barrier made it difficult to communicate with the villagers, they were patient and understanding. The parents even helped teach us the language. Since I was already semi-fluent in Japanese, it made their job a bit easier. Lori, however, only knew a couple of words, so she had a really hard time getting around. She made up for the lack of knowledge by visiting the bookstore every day. She would grab a stack of children's books and sit in the corner, reading and trying to figure things out for herself. Whenever she had questions, she would ask me.

Funny enough, that's how she ended up getting a job. The woman running the bookstore said that since she spent so time there, she might as well be working too. Lori was fine with the arrangement and was put to work the next day. I found my own job at a sea-side bar, "Siren's Last Call". I worked as a waiter after the massive party we had the day we arrived.

No, that wasn't a typo. I meant waiter.

As it turns out, nearly everyone thought I was a boy. When they found out I was a girl, their looks of shock were absolutely priceless. Lori and I nearly died of laughter, much to the embarrassment of the villagers. After we finally calmed down, I reassured the villagers that I wasn't upset. Considering this happened to me a lot back in our world, it didn't bother me.

Especially when girls flirted with me thinking I was a guy. _That_ made things even funnier.

After that whole fiasco, the old man who owned the inn was enlightened of our situation, thanks to Tran. The man agreed to let us stay, even though we had no money. The first few weeks in Opal Village were hard. I kept dreaming of our family back home and woke up most nights in tears. On those nights, I'd end up crawling into Lori's bed and hugging her tightly. Lori was my last piece of sanity and without her, I'm pretty sure I would've gone crazy. While she didn't protest when I would crawl into her bed at ungodly hours, she would wake up in the morning and kick me off. She didn't show it as much as I did, but I could tell she was upset too. Sometimes, she'd let me stay in her bed and even cuddle with me.

As painful as losing our family was, we both knew lying in bed and moping about it would get us nowhere. We devoted our days off on looking for any information we could about getting home. However, no matter how much we searched, we couldn't find a single thing. We looked through all of the books in the bookstore and asked anyone about any legends, but came up empty-handed. We were going to have to look elsewhere if we wanted to find our way back home.

And sure enough, about two months into our stay, our time to leave had come.

* * *

I was working in the bar and cleaning off some of the tables when the doors were shoved open, a small group of men walking in. The man leading them was at least a foot taller than me, had a bushy red beard and an eye patch. I glared at him and he returned the look. I flagged down the other girl busting tables and she noticed the man. She ran to the back to find the owner.

"I can't believe ye haven't left yet, brat," The man growled, his men circling me as I loosened my tie, "Yer either dumber than a broad 'r suicidal."

I snorted, "I'm not scared of idiots like you. Johanna and I beat you guys easily before, who's to say we can't do it again?"

"That was a fluke!" He snarled, drawing his sword, "Prepare yerself fer the true power o' the Black Bandana Pirates!"

I rolled my eyes as the men cheered loudly, crouching low, "You asked for it…"

The men surrounding me charged and I dropped low, sweeping my leg under their feet. I managed to catch half of them in the sweep, leaving an opening in the circle. I smirked and lunged at the captain before they could get back on their feet. He growled in anger and swung his sword at me, but his form was pathetic; I only needed to lean out of the way to dodge. I slammed my foot on his chest, sending him back out the door. He fell on the dirt road, eliciting a few startled screams from the villagers. I walked out of the bar, crossing my arms, "You were saying, 'captain'?"

He glowered at me, starting to get up. I stomped on his chest to keep him down, knocking the breath out of him, "You come here again, and I'm not gonna be so merciful. Get your crew and _get out._ Got it?" The man growled before nodding. I smirked down at him and lifted my foot up, watching as he scrambled back to his ship with the others.

"_Haruhi!_"

I flinched at the angry voice and turned to the bar entrance. The owner was standing at the door with his arms crossed, a scowl set on his face and a cigarette clenched in his teeth. I smiled weakly and waved, "H-hey, Hiro…"

"How many times have I told you to stop fighting with the customers?" He scolded, stalking over to me, "We're gonna lose all our income at this rate!"

"Hey, they came at me!" I defended. He rolled his eyes and grabbed the back of my shirt, dragging me into the bar. I yelped and struggled in his grip, but he easily over-powered me. The villagers laughed at my embarrassment as Hiro dragged me through the doors.

"As punishment, you're gonna be cleaning all the dishes. By yourself," He declared, dropping me on one of the chairs. I sighed, annoyed, "Whatever…"

He knelt in front of me, exhaling a plume of smoke with a sigh, "Dammit, Haruhi, you know we worry about you… You can't keep picking fights like this, you're gonna get hurt."

I smiled at him, "Hiro, you don't have to worry about me. I can take care of myself, I'm a big girl."

"Much to everyone's disbelief," He teased, ruffling my hair. I laughed and got up from my seat, hitting his shoulder lightly. A customer walked up to the bar and Hiro went to serve him, leaving me to my cleaning. Luckily, the idiot for a captain didn't come looking for another fight and the rest of my shift was spent cleaning the grime and grease off the dishes in Hiro's worn-down kitchen.

I never understood why he kept the place in such horrible shape when he obviously had the money to do some serious renovations. Whenever I went to ask him, he'd avoid the subject or get pulled away by someone else. Although, I really shouldn't complain, considering that extra cash sometimes goes to me or one of the other employees when we're in a tough spot.

When I finished cleaning the last of the dishes, it was just past noon. I asked Hiro what else there was to do today, but he said that I didn't need to worry about it.

"There aren't many people here in the middle of the week," He explained, leaned back against the bar, "You can have the rest of the day off. Mika and I can handle this."

I thanked him and headed to the employee lounge, changing out of my stuffy uniform. I grabbed my stuff and walked out of the bar in my casual clothes.

"Damn, that uniform sucks…" I grumbled, tying my black cargo pants. I adjusted my white t-shirt and pulled on my hat, noting that it needed to be washed soon. I headed to the bookstore, greeting the villagers as I passed by. A couple of the local kids were playing on the street, and I almost fell over when one of the boys attached himself to my leg, grinning.

"Hey, Haru! Wanna play with us?" He asked, his friends looking at me hopefully. I smiled and ruffled his hair, "Sorry, Yuya, I've got more work to do. How about tomorrow?"

"Promise?"

I smiled and nodded. He beamed and let go of my leg, running back to his friends and resuming their game. I watched them for a bit before continuing on my way. When I reached the bookstore, I took a moment to analyze the old shop again. I loved the quaint little store; it had its own unique charm. Even though it needed a bit of maintenance, the faded carving of an open book on the door really drew you in. The faded blue paint was chipped in a few spots, but you couldn't really tell unless you looked closely. Windows lined the front of the store, lighting up the shelves within.

I smiled and pushed open the door, the small bell ringing as I stepped inside. The person at the counter looked up from her book and smiled at me, "Hello, darling."

"Hey, Miss Hall," I greeted, smiling back at her.

Miss Hall was the beautifully aged woman who ran the store. When we first met, she was a little wary of us, just like the rest of the villagers. But when she discovered Loris' love of reading, she welcomed us with open arms. Sometimes, when I would help her out with the shop, she would tell me of her fond memories of growing up in this store when her mother still owned it. She could recall every book that entered her store, and I had a feeling she had read them all too. With the way she cared for each and every book she came across, you couldn't imagine any other place where she'd fit in more.

I glanced around the shop before asking, "Where's Johanna?"

"Oh, you know her; she's in her usual spot, reading the day away," She said with a laugh, the corners of her eyes crinkling with crows' feet. I thanked her and headed for the readers' corner, spotting Lori curled up in one of the comfy chairs.

"Ready to go, Johanna?" I asked, pulling her attention away from the book, "We gotta help out Mr. Eniro with cleaning today."

She frowned in disappointment, closing the book reluctantly, "Yeah, I guess…"

I was about to help her put the books she'd gathered back on the shelves when someone screamed from outside. We looked at each other before bolting out the door, Miss Hall following curiously. My eyes widened when I saw the captain from earlier holding up Yuya. He spotted me and smirked, holding up the struggling boy like a trophy, "So ye've come back fer more!"

I glowered at him, seeing Lori tense and glare from the corner of my eye, "Let him go."

The man just laughed at me and tossed Yuya away. I ran forward and caught him before he could hit the ground, checking him over for any injuries. Once I was sure he was okay, I set him down and he ran over to his mother, who bowed to us and left quickly. I turned back to the captain, pissed.

"You want a fight?" I growled, shifting with Lori into a fighting stance, "You've got one." The man smirked, his crew members lining up on the street. The villagers cleared the area quickly, watching warily from within their houses.

"You ready, Johanna?" I whispered to her, watching as some of the men drew weapons. She nodded, smirking at me, "Let's do this."

I smirked back and was about to attack when a voice yelled, "_Freeze!_"

Both sides stopped and looked to find a squad of marines coming down the path. The pirates froze up as one of the marines announced, "You are _all_ under arrest! For acts of piracy and disturbing the peace!"

I groaned loudly, "(C'mon, you gotta be kidding me!)"

The marines charged forward and the pirates panicked and tried to run away, their coward of a captain already at the end of the street. I spotted a couple of marines running towards us and turned to Lori, "Let's get outta here!"

She nodded and we both bolted down a nearby alley, weaving around trash cans and empty boxes. The marines were determined but they lost us when we split up at the end of the alley. I glanced over my shoulder to see the confused marines looking between us; unsure of whom they should follow. I saw Lori climbing over a wooden fence before I turned and ran down another empty alley. I made my way to the inn, careful not use any of the main roads. As much as I didn't want to admit it, it was too risky for Lori and me to stay here anymore. If the marines were hunting for us, they'd go through anyone to apprehend us. I wasn't going to risk anyone's safety just so we could stay an extra day.

When I reached the inn, I was gasping for air. I paused in the entrance of the alleyway, glancing around the street as I caught my breath. I didn't see any marines, so I quickly ran across the street through the old doors, crashing into someone. As I caught them, I saw that I'd nearly run over Mr. Eniro, the owner of the inn.

"Sorry, Mr. Eniro!" I said, steadying him, "I'm kinda in a hurry-" My jaw dropped when I saw my bags in his hands. I looked at him, seeing a crinkled smile on his face, "Mr. Eniro…"

"Go," he ordered softly, placing the bags in my hands, "Don't worry about your room, I can clean it."

Tears welled up in my eyes and I dropped my bags, hugging him tightly. This man opened his doors to us when he didn't need too, and even refused our money when we offered to pay for our room. All he asked from us was a lending hand in some of the cleaning, since he was getting too old to reach some of the places. He was like the grandfather we never had; I really didn't want to say goodbye to him.

I tried hard not to cry as he hugged me back, hiding my face in his boney shoulder, "Thank you for everything, Mr. Eniro… I… _We_ are gonna miss you…" He laughed and pulled away, dabbing my eyes with a handkerchief he pulled from his pocket, "I'll miss you both too… But you need to go…"

I blinked away my tears and nodded, pulling my backpack close and loosening the straps as far as they would go. I strapped my bow and quiver in the special pocket I'd made for each of them; my bow between my back and the bag and my quiver attached to the side. I pulled my backpack on and pulled the straps tight once again, making sure everything was secure. I hung my headphones around my neck and looked at him to see him barely holding back his own tears. I gave him my best smile, "See you around!"

He smiled and nodded before I turned, running out the door. I started down the street, but skidded to a stop when a couple of marines spotted me from further down the street. I whirled around and bolted in the other direction, looking for an open area to change into my Zoan form.

"Haru!"

I turned to see Lori atop one of the buildings, running parallel to me. She jumped down and grabbed her bag from me, pulling it on, "The marines are everywhere, we gotta go!"

I nodded in agreement as we ran into the town square. She slowed down and I ran ahead, shifting to my Zoan form quickly and crouching down so she could get on my back. She jumped on behind my backpack and grabbed the handle I'd sewn on it for her.

"Go!" She yelled, some of the marines shouting and closing in on us. I took off, blowing away some of the marines. I flew over the buildings, gaining speed the further I flew. I was about to fly higher when something latched onto my leg. I yelped in shock, looking down to see a marine hanging off me.

"L-Land now, criminals!" He ordered, attempting to look as intimidating as possible while holding on for dear life. I tried to shake him off, but he managed kept his grip. I knew I wouldn't be able to fly long with both of them on me, and that had me panicking. I was already starting to drop in altitude, barely evading some of the buildings. I was struggling to fly higher when the weight of the marine suddenly vanished with a pained yelp. As I steadied myself, I heard Lori laugh and call, "Nice one, Hiro!"

I looked back past Lori to see Hiro standing on one of the rooftops, cigarette hanging from his lips and a rusty pipe leaning against his shoulder. I gaped in shock as Hiro smirked at me, the marine unconscious by his feet.

"Take care, kiddos!" He called, waving at us, "Come back to visit sometime, you hear?"

More tears welled up in my eyes as I called back, "Thanks, Hiro!"

He laughed and I turned back to the horizon, clearing the edge of the island. I tried really hard not to cry, but when the noise of the island faded away, I couldn't help myself from wailing loudly.

"Relax, they'll be fine," Lori said, lying down on my back, "If they're _real _marines, they wouldn't dare to hurt civilians."

I sobbed and sniffled, trying not to let my nose run, "I-it's this d-damn wind, n-not me!"

"Yeah, sure."

I cried my heart out, already missing our friends back in Opal Village. I didn't want to believe that this would be the last time we would see them. So I made a promise to myself as I let out all my tears; we _would_ find a way to get back to them someday.

* * *

I managed to calm down after crying for what felt like hours. I sniffled, wished I could wipe my puffy eyes. Lori had been rummaging through her bag for a couple of minutes now, and I couldn't figure out what she was doing. I listened to her as she cursed and fumbled with something, growing curious.

"What're you doing?"

She ignored the question, "Well, according to this map and compass, we're heading towards the Organ Islands."

"Wait, what?" I yelled, shocked, "When the hell did you get a map and compass?!"

"I dunno, I found them in my bag just now."

I thought for a bit before realizing, "Mr. Eniro… He must've put them in there…" Lori and I sat in thoughtful silence. I shook my head and asked, "Is there anything else in either of our bags?"

"Not in mine," I felt her shuffling through both of the bags, "Wait, there's something in yours…"

"What is it?"

"…Fifty thousand Beli…"

I choked on air and almost stopped flying, switching back to English in my shock, "(_WHAT?!_)"

She huffed in annoyance, "Dammit, why didn't he put this in _my_ bag?"

"_That's _what you're worried about?! Lori, he left us _fifty thousand Beli!_"

"Yeah, and?"

"Lori, do you _know_ what that's equal to in our currency?! That's, like, five hundred dollars!"

"So? You wanna go back and return it? With all the marines still on the island?"

I paused. While I did want to go back and return it, we'd probably get arrested the moment we set foot back on the island. After thinking about it for a few more minutes, I sighed, "Fine, we keep the money."

"So you finally get it."

I pouted, grumbling, "Just play my funky music, white girl."

I could practically feel her rolling her eyes as she played my music, "This 'white girl' has a name."

Ignoring her, I hummed along with my music, gliding along a strong current. I let my thoughts wander as I avoided the slower moving birds. So we were heading towards the Organ Islands, huh? For some reason, that place sounded familiar to me, but I couldn't place where I'd heard it before. I continued trying to recall the name, but my memory wasn't agreeing with me. Not like it ever did anyway. I heard something down below as I yawned loudly. I was so tired; I didn't get much sleep the night before-

I didn't get to finish my thought due to something getting wedged in my beak, forcing it open wide. I yelped in pain and struggled, momentarily forgetting about Lori.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" She screeched, holding on for dear life. I barely heard her over the obnoxious yelling coming from the thing in my beak. I shook my head frantically, trying to knock it loose. Whatever it was, it was really stuck in there. And it was pretty heavy; I could already feel myself falling.

"Help me!" The thing cried out, struggling in my beak.

My eyes widened in shock. This thing was a person?! How the _hell_ did it get up here?! There's no way- I shook my head, focusing on the problem at hand. I had to get to land before we dropped into the ocean. I ignored the yelling from further down when I saw a spec of land from the corner of my eye and poured on the speed, praying I could make it in time. It was getting harder to keep my altitude, and I felt myself drifting lower and lower. I squinted my eyes against the high winds, ignoring the tears being pulled away.

I was getting closer and closer, and I prayed we would make it in time. The stranger kept yelling away and I could feel Lori's hands gripping my feathers tightly as I finally got over the island, letting out a sigh of relief. Whatever had been below was long gone now, but I couldn't bring myself to care. I glanced around for a place to land, but got distracted by a red ball flying towards us. I squinted at it, trying to figure out what it was. My eyes widened comically when I recognized the symbol on the surface.

_A Buggy Ball was flying towards__ us_.

I barely managed to evade the overpowered cannonball. But as I attempted to straighten myself out, it detonated behind me.

The shockwave sent me flying towards the village, and I lost all the control I had. I could hear Lori and the person screaming as we spun out, plummeting towards the houses. I crashed into one of the buildings, yelping in pain and black spots dancing in my vision. I barely noticed the weightless feeling of falling until we hit the ground, knocking what was left of my breath out of me. I faded back to my human form, the stranger now free as they sprawled out next to us. I wheezed weakly, attempting to get some air back in my lungs. I could barely hear Lori groan in pain next to me with the sound of my heart pounding in my ears.

What the hell just happened? Did I just get shot at by _Buggy_? As I tried to catch my breath, my heart managed to quiet enough so I could hear the sounds of a fight nearby. Panicking, I tried to get up as quickly as I could. But with my oxygen-deprived brain, all I could do was fall back onto the ground, gasping for air.

Damn head rushes.

This time, I closed my eyes and took slow, deep breaths. The sounds of the fight faded away, only to be filled with a catchy jungle beat coming from my headphones. Once I caught my breath, I opened my eyes and got up. I glanced around to find that we'd landed on a dirt road. The building I'd crashed into now had a huge dent from where I'd 'landed'.

I checked myself over for any serious injuries, happy to only find a bruise forming on my chest and stomach. I sighed in relief before remembering something.

_Where was Lori?_

I quickly looked over to where she was, relieved to find her sitting up on her own. On a quick glance, she didn't seem to have any injuries, but I didn't want to take any chances. I was going to call to her, but someone else caught my attention first.

"Who're you?"

I looked over to the voice that cut me off and my brain promptly short-circuited. I stared blankly at the curious boy wearing a painfully familiar straw hat. When my brain finally managed to re-boot, all I could say was, "Y-you… You're…!"

Standing in front of me, more confused than ever, was none other than _the _Monkey D. Luffy.

My jaw dropped as my iPod decided to add its own opinion on the matter.

**_Oh, I just can't _****wait_ to be king~!_**

_Ending Theme: Demons by Imagine Dragons_

* * *

**_Luffy - I Can't Wait to be King (Lion King (1994))_**

* * *

_So the moment you've all been waiting for; the introduction of the captain! Man, that took a while, huh?_

_Unfortunately, since my iPod decided to cut me off, you'll have to wait until next week to see what happens between us!_

_On a completely random note, my sister and I thought it'd be fun to give everyone theme songs when they're introduced. We've got a few solid ones for now, but lemme know if you can think of some!_

_Love you all~_

_Haruhi_


	6. Chapter 5: Meeting Your Heroes

_Have you ever had those moments where you look through something and was like, 'Dear God, did I _really_ write this?'_

_That's what happened to me with the first draft of this chapter._

_But lucky for you all, I went through and scrubbed this chapter clean, so it looks _way_ better than it did before~_

_So, I'm updating early again. I'm gonna be out this weekend (again), so you all get the chapter early! Maybe I should switch my update days to Fridays instead..._

_And good news! I finally found an ending theme for this story! It only took me five chapters! *pats self on the back but really doesn't deserve it*_ _So I've gone back and added it to the end of the other chapters and added it to here. *sighs* Really, I need to plan better..._

_ANYWAY_

_Thanks to Alynn-Aorels and Nikanox for adding this story to their alerts! It means a lot to me!_

_Also, thanks to Mercy Smith, Alynn-Aorels and Nikanox for adding this story to their favs! I really appreciate it!_

_EXTRA SPECIAL THANKS TO DarkShadowsBrother FOR ADDING ME AND THIS STORY TO THEIR FAVORITES AND ALERTS! I CAN'T TELL YOU HOW MUCH THAT MEANS TO ME!_

_Edit: I put Luffy's song at the end of the last chapter, if you didn't notice. Everything should be fixed now~_

_Well, with that out of the way, let's begin, shall we?_

* * *

**_Freddie4153:_**_ I plan on it!_

**_EspirituDelMar: _**_Thanks! Honestly, I was wondering how to introduce the characters without it being awkward when I re-watched the series. Then I came across that part and l pointed at my laptop and shouted 'THERE. IT'LL BE ABSOLUTELY PERFECT.'._

**_DarkShadowsBrother: _**_Thanks! I hope this chapter meets your expectations! And thanks again for all of your support to not only this story, but me! :)_

* * *

**_Disclaimer: Last time I checked, my name wasn't Oda Eiichirou, so therefore, I still don't own One Piece. I don't own Lori either. All_**** _I _really_ own is Kelly and the story idea. So I'm gonna abuse the hell outta that right._**

* * *

_Intro Theme: Fight Together by Namie Amuro_

My iPod continued to play the catchy song as I struggled to find words, "Y-You're… Ah…"

Luffy tilted his head, frowning in confusion, "Who're you?"

My brain shorted out for the second time. I couldn't figure out how to talk to him, let alone answer him. He looked almost exactly like he did in the manga, although he was a bit more muscular. It was making it really hard to believe that the boy standing in front of me was only 17. My inner fan girl wanted to scream and hug him, but I was frozen in place. I pinched my cheeks, hoping to finally wake from this crazy dream. But nothing changed.

I snapped out of my shocked state when I heard Lori hiss, "_You_…"

I turned to find her huffing in anger and glowering at Luffy. I paled as Luffy looked at her, growing more confused, "Where'd you come from?"

"You _dumbass_!" She yelled, lunging for him. I quickly caught her by the waist, holding her back from strangling the poor boy, "J-Johanna, calm down!"

She ignored me, trying to storm over to him, "You nearly got us all _killed_, you shit-for-brains! What were you _thinking_?!"

"Where'd that bird go?" Luffy seemed to be ignoring her, looking around for something. Lori screeched in anger and it took all I had to keep her back, "J-Johanna, don't hurt him!"

"Hurt him?! I'm gonna _kill_ him!" She snarled, trying to grab for Luffy. I whimpered and dug my heels into the ground, getting dragged across the road as my iPod changed songs. I noticed Nami watching us from a distance, a confused look on her face. She looked a lot like she did in the manga as well; even down to her unrealistic, eye-grabbing curves.

**_You're a troublemaker, a troublemaker!_**

**_Ha! You ain't nothin' but a troublemaker, girl!_**

She stared at my headphones, wondering what the hell it was as it played the song loudly. I tried my best to hold Lori back, but she was determined.

"H-Help me! She'll really kill him!" I begged, snapping Nami out of her trance. She frowned and crossed her arms, "And why should _I_ help?"

"Isn't he helping you?" I reasoned, my grip starting to fail, "He can't do that if he's dead!"

She hesitated before sighing, walking over and putting a hand on Lori's shoulder, "Calm down. Killing him is going to get you nowhere." Lori turned her glare on her and she flinched away, a bit scared. I held on as Lori paused in thought. She sighed and shrugged me off, "Fine. Whatever."

I let out a sigh of relief and looked at Luffy, who was still lost. I stared at him, still in shock that Monkey D. Luffy was_ standing right in front of me, oh my God._

"Hey! Answer me!" He demanded, crossing his arms and frowning.

I snapped out of my trance, "Answer what?"

"Who're you guys?"

"I'm Haruhi. The girl trying to kill you with a glare is my sister, Johanna."

He looked at Lori, who was indeed trying to murder him with her eyes, "Where'd you come from?"

"The same place _you_ did," She growled, fuming, "The sky."

"Really?!" He exclaimed, sparkles in his eyes, "You can fly?!"

She face-palmed and I burst out laughing, hugging my stomach. I looked at Lori, snickering, "(Dude, the sparkles are funnier in real life!)"

Lori glared at me as I continued laughing, "(Is this really the time to be concerned about that?)" I chuckled and shrugged, glancing at Luffy. He was _glowing _with excitement, "Whoa, are you speaking gibberish?! _Cool_!"

I laughed shortly, "It's not gibberish, it's another language. Johanna and I aren't from around here." I tried to keep my amusement bottled up, but it was growing harder as the sparkles radiated off his body, "Say something else!"

"(Something else.)"

He cheered in excitement and ordered, "Again!"

"Hold on, Luffy," Nami interrupted, looking between Johanna and me warily, "That isn't important right now."

He looked at her, incredulous, "It isn't?!"

I laughed, tears welling up in my eyes as she yelled at him, "Of course not, idiot! You just fell out of the sky with these people, shouldn't you be asking about that?!"

"Oh yeah."

Lori sighed, crossing her arms as I nearly died of laughter, doubled over and clutching my aching stomach. Nami looked between us, frowning, "Where _did_ you all fall from, anyway?" Luffy crossed his arms and looked up at the sky, "Well, Zoro and I were hungry when we saw this bird, so I tried to take it down. We were gonna eat it, but I got stuck in its beak and it carried me here."

My laughter stopped; I'd completely forgotten about that part. I whirled on him, upset, "Wait, you were gonna _eat_ me?!"

"No, we were gonna eat the bird."

Lori rolled her eyes, "She _is _the bird, idiot."

Luffy's eyes bugged out and his jaw dropped comically, "_EH_?!"

Nami was pretty shocked too, "What?"

I smiled and changed to my Zoan form, looking down at them. Luffy's sparkles made a comeback and he cheered loudly, running around me and checking out my new form. Nami, however, paled at the sight and took a shaky step back, "W-What _are_ you…?"

"I ate the Tori Tori no Mi: Model Gyrfalcon," I responded, watching Luffy with an amused grin. He egged me one and I spread my wings, striking a silly pose and he cheered again. We laughed together as I continued 'showing off' my new form. Nami continued to stare in shock, but she gained back a bit of her color, "A Devil Fruit…? I thought they were just a myth…"

Lori rolled her eyes, "This has gotten completely off track. She's a giant chicken. End of story."

"Hey!" I exclaimed, offended, "I just said I was a gyrfalcon!"

"Honestly, at this point, what's the difference?"

"I can fly!"

"Not well."

I gaped at her and she smirked back. Luffy laughed and I huffed in annoyance, attempting to smack her with my wing, "Jerk!"

She dodged my attack, "Hey, when you crash-land like you did just now, you have no right to say you can fly."

"I was shot at by a freaking cannonball! That's not my fault!"

"C'mon, you could've at least done a barrel roll. Even Google does a barrel roll."

"I could barely react in time, let alone do a barrel roll!" I huffed, changing back to normal. Nami, fed up with our arguing, interjected, "So you guys flew here? From where?"

I turned to her, "We left from Opal Village, but we're not from there."

She frowned, "So where _are_ you from."

I hesitated, looking at Lori in hopes she'd know what to say. She narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms, "I don't see how that's any of _your_ business."

Nami glared back, suspicious, and I looked between the two nervously. The two were glaring at each other, trying to get the other to back down. The atmosphere between them was getting heavier by the second. I quickly got between them, laughing weakly, "Let's just say we live far away and leave it at that, okay?"

Nami huffed and turned away, fuming as Lori rolled her eyes. Luffy laughed, gaining our attention. We were met with an ear-splitting grin as he declared, "You three are interesting! Join my crew!"

I froze up, eyes wide with shock. I glanced at Lori to see that she'd gone stiff from shock as well. I looked back at Luffy to see him grinning, looking at us expectantly.

"No way," Nami responded, glaring at him, "I told you, I'll work with you while we're on the same path, but I won't join you."

Luffy turned to her, eyes wide, "Eh?! Why not?!"

Nami shook her head, still glaring at him. Luffy whined and begged to her as I looked at Lori. She looked back at me, my nerves creeping up.

"(We gotta follow the plan…)" I mumbled, my heart sinking into my stomach.

She stared at me before turning to Luffy, her eyes giving away nothing, "The invitation is appreciated, but unnecessary. We're not joining your crew."

"You too?" He whined, looking disappointed.

I stayed silent, knowing that if I spoke I'd agree to go. I wanted to say yes _so badly_, but knew this was for the better. We couldn't afford to mess with the timeline; not without knowing what would happen as a result. We could change the whole story if we weren't careful. He looked at me and I smiled bitterly. He stared at us before grinning, hands back on his hips, "Well, that doesn't matter. You're joining anyway."

Nami blew up at him, declaring that she absolutely refused to join. I was about to add in my piece, but a loud growl interrupted me. We fell quiet and looked at Luffy, who in turn looked at his stomach. He groaned, remembering, "So hungry~…"

Nami sighed, running a hand down her face, "Fine, I'll get you some food." She turned and headed down the street, an excited Luffy following her. Lori and I looked at each other, wondering what to do.

"Aren't you two coming?" We looked to see that Nami had paused, looking back at us. I gave her a weak smile, "Sorry, we have to get going-"

I got cut off when Luffy's arms stretched over and grabbed our shirts. I looked at him, realization dawning on me as he beamed at us, "C'mon, we gotta get food!"

We yelled as we flew through the air, my eyes wide. We hit the ground hard, sprawled out next to his feet. I groaned softly, unwilling to move from my face plant. Lori was fuming as she got up, "We said _no_, you moron! No means no in _any_ language!"

He laughed her off and I pushed myself up, dusting myself off, "Was that necessary?"

He pouted at me, "You guys were too slow~! I'm hungry~!"

I held back the urge to squeal loudly and cuddle him, instead sighing, "Fine, we'll join you guys for lunch."

Luffy cheered and Lori was about to protest when I cut it, "_But_ it's only for lunch! After we eat, Johanna and I need to get going."

Luffy ignored me, yelling about getting some meat. I twitched in response. A smirk grew on my face. I was gonna make the first sex joke with the Straw Hat crew~! I took a deep breath to yell "THAT'S WHAT _SHE _SAID" at the top of my lungs, but Lori, who realized what I was gonna do, quickly slapped a hand over my gaping mouth. I glanced at her, a mischievous glint in my eye. She glared back at me, "Don't. You. _Dare._"

Dammit, there goes _that_ plan.

I pouted before licking her hand. She scowled in disgust and pulled her hand away quickly, glowering at me. I beamed at her, unabashed. She wiped her hand on my shirt, over-exaggerating the movement. I just laughed at her. Luffy ignored us and ran down the street after Nami, who'd kept walking without us. Lori stared at me, crossing her arms, "(Are you sure about this? It'll make it harder to leave, you know.)"

I nodded, following Luffy, "(I was getting hungry anyway. And besides, we said no; nothing else is keeping us here.)" Lori rolled her eyes, not believing me for a second. I could tell she wanted to make a comment, but she stayed silent. I was going to ask her a question when Luffy bounded over to us, startling me.

"So you can speak gibberish and turn into a bird?" He asked, an excited gleam in his eyes, "What else can you do?" I laughed and relaxed, falling into step with him, "Well, I can do a lot of things. I can walk and talk at the same time; it's a pretty amazing thing."

"Shishishi~ You're funny! Are you normally like this?"

"Not at all. I'm normally _much_ funnier."

He laughed again and I smiled, checking to make sure we were following Nami. Lori was chatting and walking with her. I turned back to Luffy as he asked, "Hey, what's that?" I looked to what he was pointing at and saw my bow, still resting in its pocket, "It's my bow."

"Really?" He questioned, staring at it, "It doesn't _look_ like a bow..."

"Well, like I said, we're not from around here," I responded, pulling my iPod out of my bag and pausing the music, "We have some different things, just like you're gonna have stuff that we don't."

He stared at my iPod, curious, "What's that?" I held up my silver iPod nano for him to take, smiling. He grabbed it from my hands, inspecting it curiously.

"It's my music player. If I connect it to my headphones," I gestured to my headphones hanging around my neck, "it plays songs."

"Really?" He was growing excited, "Are you a musician?!" I laughed, shaking my head, "No, not at all. I mean, I sing a bit and I can play my ocarina, but I'm no musician."

His tilted his head, "Ocarina?"

To answer his unspoken question, I pulled the clay instrument from my bag. I held it out for him to see and he stared in awe, fascinated. He reached to take it, but I held it away, "No way, this thing is fragile; don't touch."

"Play it!" He ordered, his curiosity overwhelming him. I smiled and held it up to my mouth, thinking about what to play. I closed my eyes before playing the familiar melody of 'Epona's Song'. I'd gotten in the habit of playing my ocarina almost daily, so I was a lot better now than I was back in our world. The music drifted down the empty streets, and I heard Nami quiet down to listen as well.

When I finished the song, I looked to see Luffy's eyes sparkling again, "So you _are_ a musician!"

I laughed and carefully put the instrument back in my bag, sliding my iPod in my pants pocket, "I'm not. Didn't I just tell you that?"

He ignored me, bouncing in his step, "Man, you _gotta_ join my crew now!"

I shook my head, an amused smile on my face as we followed Nami into a house. I glanced around to find it empty, as I expected it to be. Nami walked over to the kitchen and Luffy followed her, opening the fridge. I followed, Lori sitting herself at the table as I filled a glass with water. I leaned against the counter next to Nami, watching as Luffy made himself a huge sandwich. I managed to grab a few slices of bread and cheese from his stack of food and made myself a sandwich. I bit back my laughter when I noticed Lori's expression. She was staring in disgust at Luffy, watching him swallow the sandwich whole.

"So, do you live here?" I asked Nami. She shook her head, "Nope. The locals were afraid of Buggy, so they ran away."

"(How anyone can be scared of _that_ guy, I'll never know,)" Lori grumbled, scooting away from Luffy as he ate noisily. I nearly choked on my sandwich as I laughed, Nami frowning in confusion. I shook my head, smiling and sipping my water.

"So we're breaking and entering?" Luffy asked with a full mouth. Nami looked offended at the accusation, "That's rude! I'm a thief who robs pirates! Don't compare me to someone who breaks and enters!"

I tilted my head, confused. Wasn't that what we were doing, though…? I sipped my water, deciding to keep silent to protect myself from Nami's wrath. Luffy seemed confused as well, swallowing the sandwich at last. But unlike me, he seemed to have no sense of self-preservation. He asked bluntly, "But a thief is a thief, right?"

Nami glared and shook her head, looking out the window. Lori and I glanced at each other as she continued, "I _will_ earn one hundred million Beli. No matter what."

"Even if that means breaking and entering?" I commented, earning a harsh glare. Me and my big freaking mouth. I really needed to install the filter from my brain to my mouth, or I'd end up saying something that'd get me killed. I realized the hole I was digging myself into, but continued anyway, "I mean, you _said_ you'd do anything…"

She refused to answer me, turning away and huffing. I rolled my eyes and poured myself more water. Seriously, the girl made no sense to me. She _said_ she'd do anything, so wouldn't that involve stealing from civilians? I watched her, sipping my water as Luffy asked, "What are you going to do with that much money?"

She smirked at him, sticking her tongue out, "It's a secret~"

I rolled my eyes again and sipped my water. I nearly spat the water back out in surprise when she pulled a map out of her shirt. I coughed, thumping my chest. For some reason, that'd surprised me. Even though I had the same habit (since the boob pocket is the most convenient thing _ever_), watching someone else randomly pulling stuff out of their shirt was unsettling. Now I knew how Lori felt when I did that.

Maybe I should stop doing that…

…

Nah.

Nami ignored my coughing and continued with her speech, "Besides, if you have a map to the Grand Line, one hundred million Beli isn't a dream."

Luffy brightened up, "Map? Are you a navigator?"

She looked offended again, "My skills are _much_ better than any other navigator's."

"That's great!" Luffy exclaimed, getting up from his chair and slamming his hands down on the table in his excitement, "Why won't you join us as a navigator?" She frowned at him, placing her hands on the table to stare him down, "You asked me that earlier. What kind of crew are we talking about here?"

Luffy threw his hands in the air, an excited grin on his face, "A crew of pirates!"

The reaction was almost instant.

Nami's face turned sour, a disgusted scowl set on her face as she growled out, "_No_."

I glanced at Lori as Nami took deep breaths to calm down. Lori shrugged and I turned my attention back to the fuming red-head. Once she'd relaxed a bit, she asked, "You're a pirate?"

I snorted, gaining their attention.

"C'mon, you can't tell me you thought he was a sailor," I said, rolling my eyes, "Even _I _could tell he was a pirate, and I'm pretty oblivious."

"It's true," Lori chimed in, leaning back in her chair. I glared at her as Luffy pulled off his hat. I turned my attention back to him, watching him stare at the old hat fondly, "I promised the man who gave me this hat… that I'd become a great pirate…"

I smiled, watching him as he smiled at the hat. He was making it really hard for me to control my inner fan girl. I wanted to coo and cuddle the adorableness that was Luffy. The tender moment was ruined when Nami slammed her hands down on the table, fuming.

"I hate pirates more than anything else in this world!" She ranted, glaring at Luffy. He ignored her glare, placing his hat back on his head, "C'mon, be our navigator!"

"I _said_ no."

He sighed, "Oh well." He dug into the food, ignoring the glare coming from the woman across the table. I placed my empty glass in the sink, grabbing an apple off the table and nudging Lori, "Well, this has been great, but we have to go."

"Where are you going?" Luffy asked, stuffing his face with more food. I shrugged, taking a bite out of the Granny Smith I'd grabbed, "Not sure yet. We're just traveling from island to island for now."

"Then you should join my crew!" He said, beaming at us, "You'd still be traveling! Besides, you two are interesting!"

Lori sighed and I frowned in confusion, asking her, "(What?)"

She stared me down before declaring, "(If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Right?)"

My jaw dropped along with my apple. Luffy and Nami looked between us, confused as I replied, "(Y-You can't be serious…)" She shrugged, ignoring their looks, "(We both know he isn't gonna give up. Besides, it' not like we have any other clues for how to get home, so there's no point in refusing him to wander aimlessly.)"

I stared at her as she continued, "(Besides, you really wanna join them, right?)"

Sometimes, I _love_ having her as my sister.

I hugged her tightly, much to her dismay. I clung to her as she tried (in vain) to shove me off, "Don't touch me."

Just to spite her, I gave her a kiss on the cheek, "Thanks, Johanna~!"

"_Ew! _Don't_ touch _me_, _peasant!"

I laughed as she shoved me onto the floor, wiping her cheek with a disgusted scowl. I beamed her before getting up, grabbing my previously discarded apple and skipping over to the sink to wash it off. I could feel Luffy and Nami's confused stares, but ignored them in favor of cleaning my apple, humming under my breath.

"You're disgusting," Lori grumbled, still wiping her cheek. I turned back to them and smiled, munching on my apple, "But you love me anyway~"

"Okay, what's going on?" Nami asked, looking between us.

I turned to Luffy and stared back at him, excited. I beamed and said the words I'd been waiting to say since we'd met him.

"We agree to join your crew!"

_Ending Theme: Demons by Imagine Dragons_

* * *

**_Nami - Troublemaker (Olly Murs ft. Flo Rida)_**

* * *

_Okay, raise your hands if you totally did _not_ see that coming._

_No one?_

_Cool, then I'm unoriginal._

_..._

_*sobs*_

_A-Anyway... I-I'll see you all next week... I hope..._

_Love you all~_

_Haruhi_


	7. Chapter 6: Getting to Know Your Enemies

_HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE~_

_What are you all dressing up as? (If you dressed up at all) I'm cosplaying as Luffy~ Even though the costume didn't turn out like I planned, it's gonna helluva lotta fun~_

_But I have an update for you all!_

_From now on, I've decided to update this story on Fridays. I realized how many weekend tournaments I have, so it's just more convenient for me to update Fridays._

_I hope that's alright with you all!_

_Anyway..._

_Thanks to wolfzero7, NightWindAlchemist, Patchwork Knightess and Volpiko for adding this story to their favorites~_

_More thanks to NightWindAlchemist, Patchwork Knightess and Volpiko for adding this story to their alerts~_

_EXTRA SPECIAL THANKS TO Tenshi Amaya AND mittensx7768 FOR ADDING ME AND THIS STORY TO THEIR FAVS AND ALERTS~!_

_OH YEAH_

_Shout-out to my awesome friend and author Chibi Spitfire! She's made some awesome stories for One Piece, you guys should_ totally_ check them out~!_

_Well, let's get this party started~_

* * *

**_Guest: _**_AHAHAHAHAHAHA- oh wait, you were serious? (Lori) AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA- (me) Lori, that's rude. I apologize for the both of us, we have very little self-control! But anyway, Lori's at the stage where she has no interest in relationships. And actually, I _did_ wanna hook her up with someone, bu~t- (Lori) Do it and _die. _(me) Yeah, there's that._

**_DarkShadowsBrother: _**_Oh my God, thank you so much! I appreciate all the praise! It took so long for me and Lori to figure out not only how to introduce ourselves, but how to integrate ourselves into the crew. And I think I mentioned it in the chapters, but Lori and Kelly were on the deserted island for 5 days (hence the countdown), and they were at Opal Village for about two months. Again, I appreciate all the praise!_

**_QuirkyFox: _**_Thanks for reading~! It warms my heart~!_

**_Guest 2: _**_...I never said my iPod was draining? Oops... Sorry for the confusion! Although, to be fair, my iPod (one of the older models, not an iPhone like Loris') can last for _months _if I leave it off when I'm not using it, so currently, I picture the battery life at... fifteen percent? Maybe ten? I also had something planned for my iPod that related to future plot stuff, so I'm surprised you caught onto that! Impressive!_

**_mittensx7768: _**_Thanks~!_

**_SuperMarioBros45:_**_ It's_ hilarious_ that you say that, 'cause after I read your review, my professor for my creative writing course talked to us about line spacing and dialogue cues and what-not. He said almost _exactly_ the same words you did and I was like, 'whelp, time to go back and change stuff'. And I agree with you, cause it looks _so much_ better now~ Thanks~! And cheeseburger. Fries and Dr. Pepper. Melon._

* * *

**_Disclaimer: I don't own the beautiful, heart-warming, soul-ripping story that is One Piece. Nor do I own Lori. Or any references._**

**_..._**

**_Seriously, what am I doing here?_**

* * *

_Intro Theme: Fight Together by Namie Amuro_

The room fell silent after those words left my mouth. Lori glanced between us, munching on some salami she'd swiped from Luffy's pile of food. Nami glared at us, but I ignored her. I continued beaming at my new captain, hands planted on my hips. His eyes lit up and his smile grew as big as my own, "Really?!"

I nodded, my cheeks starting to hurt from smiling so big. He cheered, knocking some of the food off the table when he threw his hands up. Lori quickly moved out of the way of the falling food, glaring at him. I laughed as he started choked on the food he'd neglected to swallow, grabbing his throat with wide eyes. I slammed my hand on his back and he spat out a fish bone. He beamed at me, "Thanks!"

I smiled as he shoveled more food in his mouth, "Just be careful, alright?"

Lori snickered and I glanced at her, raising an eyebrow. She ignored me in favor of snatching an apple from Luffy's mound of food. He didn't seem to notice, swallowing his food before announcing, "Now we have four!"

"Who's the fourth?" Lori asked, munching on her fruit. He seemed to remember something and his eyes widened. He slammed his hands down on the table as he got up, "Oh yeah! I forgot about Zoro!"

"Zoro?" I asked, my voice squeaking a bit at the end. Lori smirked at me and I smacked her upside the head, glaring at her. She glared back and kicked me in the side. I fell to the ground, wheezing in fake pain as she finished her apple.

"Y-You're so mean…" I groaned, cradling my aching stomach. She rolled her eyes, tossing the core on the table, "You're just figuring this out now?"

Luffy laughed at us as I gave up my act, pouting at her. I sniffled and got up, crawling to Luffy for sympathy, "Captain, she's so mean to me~!"

"She's funny!"

"Your _face_ is funny," Lori snapped, glaring at him. I gaped at her as Luffy tilted his head, confused, "It is?"

She stared at him, her face blank. He stared back, still confused.

"…Yeah, sure, let's go with that."

I smacked her shoulder, glaring, "Johanna, don't be rude to our new captain!"

She shrugged, nonchalant, "I'm not being rude. Even if I _was, _he wouldn't be able to tell." I raised an eyebrow, giving her an accusing look and crossing my arms. She stared at me, a bit confused before it sank in, "Oh, that was kinda rude…"

"Ya think?"

She shrugged again, waving a hand, "Whatever, it's not like I care."

I rolled my eyes and turned back to Luffy, who'd given up on our conversation in lieu of stuffing his face with more food. I swiped a bun from the pile when he wasn't looking and ate it quickly, nearly swallowing it whole. I choked on a piece of it, glaring when I noticed Lori smirking at me.

"S-So who's Zoro?" I asked, thumping my chest to try and help the rest of the bun slide down my throat. When that didn't work, I went to the sink and picked up my glass, refilling it with water and gulping it down.

"He's our swordsman!" Luffy replied through a mouth full of food, his cheeks bulging. I finished the water and sighed in relief, the pressure from the bun gone. I set the glass back in the sink and turned to him with a smile, "He sounds cool!"

"Right?"

"_Anyway_," Nami interrupted, scowling as she crossed her arms, "Congrats to you guys, but I'm still not joining."

"Aw, why not?" Luffy whined, pouting a bit. She turned her glare on him, "Because I still have something I need to do."

"You can do it with us!"

She shook her head, "No."

I sighed as she walked away, going to the open window. I _really_ hated how Nami acted before her arc. To me, she was just a whiny bitch who felt as though she needed to prove a point that wasn't even there. And with the way she was acting now, it took all I had not to storm over to her and smack her across the face. I wanted to rant about how much of a cold-hearted bitch she was being.

But that would be crossing a line.

So I took a deep breath and turned to Luffy, "So what's the plan, captain?"

"We find Zoro!" He declared, finishing the last of his food, "Then we can head towards the Grand Line!"

"Alright," I replied as Lori got up from her seat, "Then let's go."

"Hold on!"

We turned to Nami, who was looking pretty nervous. I frowned in suspicion as she said, "If you accept my conditions, I'll think over your offer."

Luffy perked up, "Really? I'll do anything!"

She a smirk crept up on her face and reached for something behind her back, "Well, I want you to come with me to see Buggy…" We stared as she pulled out a rope, proceeding to tie Luffy up without anything else to add. I let out a heavy sigh as Luffy, the oblivious idiot he was, didn't resist at all. He just watched her with a curious expression. I rubbed my eyes, exhausted, "This is gonna be a _long_ day, isn't it?"

"Again, you're just figuring this out now?" Lori retorted, watching as Luffy's arms were bound to his sides. I glared at her, too exhausted to really retort. She ignored me, shaking her head when Nami tied the final knot.

"Why'd you tie me up?" Luffy asked once she finished. She gripped one end of the rope as if she was holding him on a leash, "It's just a rope. Is there a problem?"

He thought about it before shrugging, "I guess not."

I sighed, face-palming. Lori rolled her eyes as Luffy brightened up, "I wanna meet some pirates! Let's go!"

"Luffy…" I mumbled from behind my hand, catching his attention. My hand slid down my face and I looked at him, "If they're pirates, why do you need to be tied up?"

"I dunno."

I turned my attention to Nami, crossing my arms and glaring at her, "Well?"

She glared back, gripping the rope tightly, "What's it to you?"

"He's my captain now."

"So what?"

"What're you planning?"

"None of your business."

I glared harder as Lori added in, "It became our business as soon as you involved our captain."

Nami sighed, dropping the rope to ruffle her hair in frustration, "Look, it'll be alright. I'm not planning anything _bad_, okay?"

"How do _we_ know that?" Lori asked, crossing her arms and glaring harder. Nami gave her the most pitiable look she could muster, "Can't you just trust me?"

"Not with our captains' life," I responded, "Just tell us."

"I can't!"

I sighed again, "Luffy, I don't think this is safe-" I stared at the place Luffy had been standing, wondering when in the hell he'd moved. And how _he _of all people could move _unnoticed_. I continued staring until I heard him yell, "Adventure~!"

I looked out the window to find him walking down the street, the end of the rope Nami had been holding trailing on the ground behind him. It took a couple seconds for it to really sink in that Luffy was totally okay with all of this. When it did, my jaw dropped and Lori face-palmed, letting out a heavy sigh.

"Great. We've got an idiot for a captain," She grumbled, shaking her head.

"Luffy, wait for me!" Nami called, running out of the house after him.

I shook my head and followed her, "That's not going to stop him!" She ignored me as Luffy continuing to walk as if he didn't heard us. Knowing him, he probably didn't. I heard Lori get up from her chair behind me and jogged out of the house, following Nami. I cupped my hands around my mouth and called, "Luffy, you don't even know where you're going!"

He stopped in the middle of the road, tilting his head to the side as he said, "Oh yeah."

Nami snatched up the end of the rope while he was thinking. She glared at him, shaking her finger in his face, "Jeez, don't go wandering off like that!"

"Shishishi~ Sorry!"

I finally caught up with them, panting as I stopped next to Luffy. I slapped a hand on his shoulder, catching my breath, "Y-You're just gonna be a handful, aren't you?" He laughed again, unabashed. I sighed, glancing back at Lori. She took her time walking over to us, uncaring if he got ahead or not. When she finally caught up, we continued our way down the street. Nami took up the lead, keeping a firm grip on the rope this time. I followed with Luffy, walking a few steps behind her and Lori followed a few steps behind us.

I glanced around, a bit nervous with how quiet it was. It was really weird to walk down the abandoned street, since I was used to Opal Village's loud and bustling environment. I glanced at the houses, noticing something that wasn't shown in the manga.

How _quickly_ the villagers had cleared out.

In the manga, the streets were just empty and bare. But as I glanced at the trash-ridden streets, I felt a lump forming in my throat. Some of the houses had broken windows, while the others had their doors wide open. It was hard to look at, once you realized what had happened here. I stopped walking when I spotted a doll on the ground in the middle of the road. I knelt down and scooped it up, inspecting it. The doll was almost falling apart in my hands, stitches torn and the dress ruffled and ripped from being trampled.

How could _anyone_ ruin lives like this?

Lori and I grew up very fortunate; I'm not gonna even try to deny it. I'm really thankful that we grew up in the way we did. We grew up with one parent always around or on call. There were never any serious problems with money or the place where we lived. The neighborhood where we grew up was very friendly and open. We could even bike after dark without worrying about being attacked.

I gripped the doll tightly in my hand, angry tears forming in my eyes. No one should have had to go through what these people went through the day those pirates arrived. Having to pack up all their things in a hurry and leave their homes behind, praying their houses would survive the raid.

It must've been so _painful_.

"Haruhi?"

I glanced up to Luffy, who was wearing a confused frown. I blinked away the tears, loosening my grip on the doll and offering him a weak smile, "Y-Yeah?"

"What're you doing?" He asked, tilting his head. I looked back at the doll, playing with one of the loose strings hanging from its arm.

"Just… Just thinking…"

"Why?"

I paused, trying to organize my thoughts. He sat next to me, ignoring Nami tugging on his rope. I sighed and sat on the ground, holding the doll close.

"I just… don't understand how people can do this to each other," I mumbled, sliding off my backpack, "It's… so _cruel_…"

Luffy watched as I pulled out some thread and a needle from my bag, attempting to fix the doll as best as I could. I sewed in silence, blinking back more tears. I noticed that Nami had given up on dragging Luffy to the base, chatting with Lori a few feet away. And Luffy stayed with me, to my surprise. He didn't say anything as he watched me as I sewed the doll back together. Usually, I liked it when people talked to me in those situations. It'd help distract me from what happened.

So why did I enjoy this silence?

"…I wanna kick his ass, Luffy," I declared, tying a knot with a firm tug, "I wanna hit him where it hurts." I finished the last knot and glanced at him, expecting him to declare that the fight was his. I was surprised to find a huge grin on his face. He was barely holding back laughter, which confused me even more, "What?"

"Okay!" He said, nodding and getting back up, "You can have this fight!"

I stared at him, jaw dropped as he continued grinning at me. I shook my head and smiled, getting up, "Thanks."

He just grinned and let out a loud laugh. I laughed with him, walking over to a nearby barrel and setting the doll on it. I turned back to him, big grins stretched across our faces as we walked over to Nami and Lori.

Nami saw us approaching and asked, "You guys done?"

I nodded as Luffy said, "Yeah!"

She nodded and took the rope again, leading the way down the street. Luffy followed her from a few paces behind with me. Lori walked with Nami, continuing their conversation. As we got closer to the base I glanced at Luffy, who was staring at the path ahead.

"…Luffy?" I whispered, making sure Nami couldn't hear us. He looked at me as I continued, "…How can you not be suspicious of this?"

"What do you mean?" He asked, not even bothering to keep his voice down. I rolled my eyes and continued to whisper anyway, "Well, don't you think she could be leading us to a trap?"

"Why would she?"

I stared at him and he stared back, as if to challenge me. I sighed, breaking the eye contact and shaking my head, "Wow, what I wouldn't give to be as trusting as you..."

He looked confused and I glanced at Nami. I knew what was coming, and it was frustrating that I couldn't do anything about it. Lori and I agreed that we couldn't give anything away; _especially _things that were to come later. But I couldn't just sit back and watch Nami give my new captain away. I _had_ to do something.

As I started to form a plan for how to help, we approached Buggy's stronghold and spotted one of his crewmates standing guard outside. I tensed, clenching my fists and glaring at the man. Nami pulled Luffy along and stopped in front of the pirate. He narrowed his eyes at her before realization smacked him across the face, "Y-You're-!"

"I'd like to talk to Buggy," Nami demanded, glaring the man down. He stepped aside, letting her pass. Lori and I started to follow, but were stopped by the man's arm.

"Only she and the boy are allowed in," He growled, glaring down at me. It was incredibly frustrating being so short. I mean, I knew that the characters in One Piece were freakishly tall, since Luffy one of the shorter characters. But the boy was five foot seven, and I was _barely _five foot five. I was practically a midget here. It was really annoying that people had to keep looking down at me.

Lori, however, fit in just fine at her height of five foot ten.

I wasn't fair.

I debated changing into my Zoan form to scare him as Lori glared at the pirate, unfazed, "We're with her, you dunce."

The pirate shifted his glare to her, "What'd you call me?!"

"They're with us," Nami cut in, stopping the fight before it could really start. He growled before reluctantly letting us pass. I snickered as we moved past him, walking next to Nami, "Thanks."

She nodded, staring ahead. She made her way to the large group of people standing in the middle of the stronghold. I walked with her, standing up straight as Lori walked on my other side. I heard the men arguing within the group and grew tense. One of the men yelled out in fear, making me a bit nervous.

"Captain Buggy!" The guard behind us called, Lori stopping with me. I flinched from the sound of his voice, earning a raised eyebrow from Nami. I glanced at the guy behind me, unaware that he'd been following us. I heard the familiar sound of my iPod shuffling, but ignored it when another voice yelled from within the crowd.

"What?!" The voice responded, the group parting so we could make our way through. We walked through the mob of people, the guard continuing to follow us, "The thief from before is back!"

"_What did you say?!_" The same voice yelled, pushing a few people out of his way.

Finally, I caught a glimpse of the 'infamous' Captain Buggy. I stared at him, trying to understand how this man would lead his own army in the future. Just like Luffy and Nami, he looked almost exactly like he did in the manga. He looked like he was in better shape than what had been shown, but it was hard to take him seriously with the clown make-up and big red nose. He also had a few more wrinkles than I expected, but then again, he _was_ in, like, in his forties. _And_ he stressed himself out unnecessarily.

**_Now I'm in over my head! For something I said!_**

**_Completely misread, I'm better off dead!_**

I jumped at the song blaring from my headphones. Everyone stopped to stare at me, most of them wearing a confused frown. I shoved my hand in my pocket and jabbed the pause button as quickly as I could, but my hand slipped since I was sweating nervously. I cursed, clicking the pause button harder than I needed to.

It didn't work.

"Shit, it's locked!" I whispered, my face flushed with mortification. I could hear Lori snickering over my shoulder, but ignored her in favor of unlocking my iPod and finally paused the music. I sighed in relief, my ears aching a bit from the volume of the song. Someone coughed and I twitched in surprise, glancing around at all the people still staring at me.

I let out a weak laugh, "Uh… Sorry?"

Lori burst out laughing and I spun to face her, flushed with embarrassment, "S-Shut up!"

Luffy started laughing as well, "Man, that music thing sure is funny!"

I turned my glare on him, my face flushed with embarrassment. Suddenly, one of the men in the crowd gasped.

"That's her!" He announced, pointing to Nami, "That's the girl who stole the map, captain!"

I was relieved the attention was off of me, but the relief didn't last long. Nami shoved Luffy in front of her, causing him to stumble and fall flat on his face. I glared at her, fuming silently.

She stuck her tongue out at him, turning her attention back to Buggy, "I have captured the thief, Captain Buggy "the Clown"! I'm also returning the map!" She walked over to him and handed him the worn papyrus. He glared at her suspiciously, taking the scroll, "Thanks for returning the map… But what made you change your mind?"

"I had a fight with my boss. I can't stand him anymore," Nami glared at Luffy over her shoulder before turning back to Buggy, fake admiration sparkling in her eyes, "Let me join you, Captain Buggy!"

The snort that Buggy let out was the most _unattractive _snort that I had ever heard in my _life_. I stared at him in disgust as his men backed away, nervous.

"Captain Buggy is getting angry!"

"The Devil's power will appear again!"

Luffy sat up, a bit curious, "Devil?"

Instead of getting angry, like the others thought he would, Buggy broke out into boisterous laughter. I glanced at Lori, who was just staring at the crazed man. I nudged her in the side, earning myself a glare. I gave Buggy and annoyed glare, looking at her rolled my eyes. She snickered in response, smirking at me. I smiled and shook my head, looking back at Buggy.

"Had enough of him? What an interesting woman!" Buggy said, smirking, "I like you! You can join us!"

I glared at them as Buggy broke out into another round of ugly laughter, his crew joining in. Nami forced a smile on her face, but it was a horrible effort. I tensed as some of the crew members walked towards us, nasty smirks set on their face.

"I fucking _knew_ it," I grumbled. Before any of them could get too close, I pulled out my bow, nocked an arrow on the string and drew it back in one quick practiced motion. I aimed for Buggy, glaring at him as the place fell into a tense silence.

"You're not touching my captain," I announced, seeing Lori shift into a fighting stance from the corner of my eye.

Buggy smirked at me, unfazed. He spread his arms wide, taunting, "Go ahead! _Try_ to hit me!"

"You sure about that?" I smirked back, watching as his confidence morphed into confusion, "You don't have a _clue_ as to what's on these arrows. Are you willing to take that risk, Big Nose?"

Man, bluffing is such a wonderful thing.

If I hadn't tacked on that damn nickname at the end, my plan would've _totally_ worked.

His eyes widened, veins pulsing in his forehead as his crew drew their weapons, "_What did you just call me?!_"

I barely had time to react before he charged me. Purely out of instinct, I let the arrow fly free, spearing through his hat as he continued charging us. I cursed and reached to draw another arrow, but a sharp blow to the back of my neck had stars dancing in my eyes. I collapsed to the ground, my bow clattering on the ground next to me. I could barely make out Luffy's voice muffled when he called, "Haruhi!"

The world faded to black as the sounds of a fight surrounded me.

* * *

"You know, that's not gonna work."

"I'm still hungry though~!"

I groaned as two familiar voices argued nearby. I blinked open my eyes and my vision swam back into focus. Once my vision had settled, I saw that Luffy, Lori and I were all penned in a small cage. Luffy was untied as he tried to stretch his arm to the food table, "I want to… eat too…!"

He lost his grip on the table and his arm snapped back, slapping him in the face and pushing him back. He tried to catch himself before he fell over but in the process, he slammed his hand down on my stomach. I wheezed in pain, catching his attention.

"Oh! Haruhi! You're awake!" He announced, drawing Lori's attention to me.

"Y-Yeah…" I coughed, rubbing my stomach, "N-No thanks to you…"

"Shishishi~ Sorry!"

"You alright?" Lori asked, relaxed against the cage bars. I sat up, moving Luffy's hand off my stomach and replying, "Yeah, I'll be fine."

She snickered and I glared at her. I was going to retort, but I stopped when I didn't feel the comforting weight of my headphones on my shoulders. I felt around for them, thinking they'd fallen off. But I still couldn't find them. I looked around, but there weren't in the cage.

"Buggy took them," Lori answered, glancing over to where the pirates were inspecting our stuff, "He took our bags, too."

"What?!" I exclaimed, looking over to see for myself. My jaw dropped when I saw the pirates rummaging through our bags, one of them messing with my iPod. I grabbed the bars, pressing myself against them as one of the pirates pulled my ocarina from the bag.

"Hey, be careful with that!" I yelled, a bit nervous, "That thing's fragile!" The pirate just smirked at me, the others laughing with him. I nearly had a heart attack when the pirate started tossing my ocarina between his hands, watching my reaction.

"Whatcha gonna do about it?" He sneered, waving it just out of my reach. I glared at him, trying not to get too upset since that was what he was aiming for. I was about to give him a snappy retort when a hand stretched past me, snatching the ocarina from the guy's hand. The guy yelped, falling back in surprise. The hand retracted back into the cage and I turned around. Luffy offered the ocarina to me with a grin, "This is important to you, right?"

I nodded, shocked. I took the ocarina back, inspecting it to make sure it wasn't damaged. Thankfully, it wasn't. I smiled at Luffy, relieved, "Thanks, Luffy."

He laughed me off, slapping me on the back hard. I yelped in pain, nearly dropping my ocarina in the process. I scrambled and caught it, sighing in relief. I glared at Luffy, "Dude, be careful! I nearly dropped it!"

"Sorry!" He laughed, not looking too sorry at all. I sighed and slid my ocarina into one of my thigh pockets, closing it with the metal button. I leaned against the cage bars, crossing my arms behind my head, "So, what now?"

We were cutting off by a familiar ugly laugh. I scowled and looked over to Buggy, who was sitting on his special chair. Couldn't exactly call it a throne when it wasn't bejeweled.

…

Shit, I wasn't listening, was I?

When I started paying attention again, I saw the crew members loading another Buggy Ball into the cannon. I winced, realizing what was going to happen. I sat up and grit my teeth in anger, "Hey, Johanna?"

Lori glanced over at me, completely at ease. It always surprised me how calm she could be in situations like this, whereas I would be snapping at anyone who'd pissed me off.

"Do you think this cage'd break if we shifted together?" I asked, staring at her. She stared back at me blankly, giving me her 'are-you-shitting-me-right-now' look. I frowned, tilting my head, "What?"

"Are you shitting me, Haru?" She stated, finally voicing her thoughts, "What do you this cage is _made_ of? It's gonna take _way_ more force than that to break concrete and steel."

"Well, I thought since our other forms are pretty big, we'd break the cage that way…" I mumbled, pouting.

She sighed, shaking her head, "Haru, we'd break _ourselves_ before we break the cage."

We were interrupted when Buggy ordered, "Light it!" We looked over and watches as one of his crew members lit the fuse, embers sparking off the burning end. I clenched my hands into fists. I glanced at Lori to find her gritting her teeth as well, glancing back at me. She shook her head, a bit nervous. Lori hated loud noises, so waiting for the cannon to go off this close to her was practically torture. I gave her a weak smile, trying to set her at ease. She looked at the cannon, as tense as I was. I sighed and looked at Luffy, curious as to his reaction.

Luffy watched the cannon with a curious expression as the fuse grew shorter with each passing second. Finally, the fuse disappeared into the cannon, leaving behind a small wisp of smoke. I waited, holding my breath as everyone fell silent. I was hoping the fuse wouldn't ignite the gunpowder on some freak chance, but my hopes were for nothing.

The cannon went off with a concussive **'_BOOM'_**. My ears were ringing from the massive sound wave that ripped through the hide-out, and I saw Lori wincing from it as well. I rubbed my ears, groaning in pain, "Geez, doesn't that idiot understand he could get serious hearing damage from that…?"

"At this point, you really shouldn't be worrying about your hearing," Lori responded, looking out to the village. I followed her line of sight and saw the decimation the Buggy Ball had caused. Most if not all of the buildings that had been in the war-path were just… _gone_. There wasn't even any debris from where they'd been; they'd just evaporated from the force of the blast. I could barely make out the foundations of the houses.

Jesus Christ, we were nearly blasted by _that?!_

I winced as I surveyed the damage, thankful that I'd dodged it when we first got here. If I'd gotten hit by that before, I doubt I would've even _survived_.

The camp was filled with loud cheers, the pirates partying over the absolute destruction. Buggy was cackling as he got up from his seat, not noticing Nami's pale expression.

"With the Buggy Bomb and the power of the Devil's Fruit… _I_ will be the one to rule the Grand Line!" He boasted, throwing his arms out wide. His crew cheered in agreement, throwing their fists and weapons in the air in celebration. Buggy turned to Nami with a sinister smirk, "Right, Nami?"

She quickly threw on a weak smile, trying to look as sincere as possible as she said, "R-Right! Of course!"

Buggy seemed to buy her pathetic acting and let out a loud snort. I scowled at them, disgusted with his horrible laugh and Nami's attitude. Lori rolled her eyes at the whole interaction and I was going to add my own piece in when Luffy cut me off, "_HAH?!_"

Lori and I turned to him, confused. He had a frustrated look on his face, his arms crossed in front of his chest and his feet pressed together.

"Luffy…?" I asked, confused. He ignored me and continued staring at Buggy, who'd also turned his attention to Luffy. Buggy raised his eyebrow, as if daring Luffy to say something about it.

He should've known better than to challenge Luffy.

"The one who's gonna rule the Grand Line is _me!_" Luffy declared, determined. The way he'd said it was as if he was stating the obvious, and to him, it probably was. I smirked as Buggy's face slowly flushed red from anger. I glanced at Lori, who let out a heavy sigh and placed her hand over her face. I snickered as Luffy continued his statement, "_I'm_ gonna become the Pirate King!"

I cheered, ignoring the stares I was getting, "(You tell 'em, honey~!)"

Lori, now officially the most embarrassed she'd ever been in her life, turned to the nearest pirate and begged, "Please… Kill me now…"

Luffy ignored us and continued staring at Buggy, who had turned so red I could barely tell the difference from his skin and his nose. Nami was staring in shock, whispering something under her breath. Buggy burst out laughing, trying to play off his anger.

"Now I can see why you can't stand him, Nami!" He grit out, veins pulsing in his neck.

Nami put back on her mask of loyalty and gave Buggy another weak smile, "T-That's right! He's so simple-minded about everything!" She gave Luffy a nasty glare and continued, "_That's _why I can't follow him anymore."

Buggy's eyes glinted with malice and I shivered a bit. That look did _not_ look good…

"So true…" Buggy sneered, smirking at a confused Nami, "In that case, your _generous_ Captain Buggy will give you a present…" The pirates who got where Buggy was going with this snickered and I shivered again.

If this was going where I think it was…

"You get to blow up this old boss of yours~!"

Shit.

"…Well, fuck my life," Lori said, ignoring me as I paled in fear. I gaped in shock, looking at Luffy in hopes he'd do something. But he was just staring at Nami, seemingly at ease with this whole situation. Buggy cackled loudly, enjoying Nami's pale and scared look.

"W-What…?" Nami gasped, her hands trembling a bit. Buggy snickered at her, "It's also a test of your loyalty to me! Prepare it!" He waved his hand and his crew lined up the cannon so it was pointing directly at our cage. I stared down the dark barrel of the cannon and gulped. Even though it was unloaded _and_ I knew we wouldn't actually get hit with it, it was going against every fiber of by being to see a weapon pointed at me. My uncle always taught me to never point a weapon at anything you're not willing to kill.

But obviously, Buggy was _trying_ to kill us, so that training went out the window.

"Luffy, what do we do?!" I whispered frantically, gaining his attention. He grinned at us, replying, "Don't worry! Everything'll be okay!" I hesitated, staring at Luffy. He stared back, unafraid. I sighed, trying to relax, "Alright, if you say so…"

"Shishishi~ Leave this to me~" He said, looking back at the cannon.

"A~nd fuck my life _hard_," Lori growled, glaring at the cannon as well. I whirled on her, elbowing her in the gut, "Stop making me more nervous!"

She looked at me, relaxing a bit. She sighed and leaned in, lowering her voice so only I could hear, "Remember, we don't actually get shot."

"I know that!" I whispered back, "That doesn't change the fact that a loaded cannon is pointing at us!"

She rolled her eyes, leaning away and raising her voice again, "I can't help you with that."

I whimpered and stared at the cannon, my nerves increasing as the men loaded the cannon. Nami, who was well on her way to a panic attack, tried to plead with Buggy, "I-I'm fine as it is! This is a party; let's just have some more fun!" Buggy gave her an intimidating glare, causing her to shrink away a bit. I didn't think the idiot had it in him.

"Do it," He ordered, his voice threateningly calm, "This is _my_ way of partying."

He drops the matchbox in her hand, still staring her down. Nami turns her frightened look to the matchbox, her hands trembling even more. The men started chanting for her to fire the cannon; increasing in volume the longer she hesitated. I winced in sympathy as her breaths changed to short gasps. I could understand her worry, even _if_ I hated her guts right now. I wouldn't wanna be forced to shoot someone against my will either; _especially_ if it was my fault they ended up there.

"Let's light it up~!" Buggy announced, gaining loud cheers from his men. Nami looked torn, unsure of what to do. I glanced at Luffy to see him totally impassive, staring Nami down. Did he _really_ trust her that much…?

The chanting got even louder, getting to the point where Lori plugged her ears in annoyance. I kept glancing between Buggy and Nami, wondering how things were gonna change with Lori and I here.

"C'mon, Nami!" Buggy yelled, causing her to flinch, "Don't spoil the party!"

Nami bit her lip, gripping the matchbox tightly in her shaking hands. Luffy noticed and called out, "What's wrong? Your hands are shaking." I glanced at him, hoping things played out like they did in the manga. Nami tensed at his words, forcing her hands to stop shaking. She looked at him in shock, wondering if the boy was mental. I could sympathize with her; if I didn't know what was gonna happen, I'd be wondering the same thing.

Luffy continued, ignoring the loud chanting, "This is what happens when you aren't mentally prepared."

I shook my head as Nami glared at him, trying to mask her confusion, "What do you mean by 'mentally prepared'?! To kill people on a whim?!" Luffy stayed quiet as she continued her rant, "Is _that_ the way of the pirates?!"

"No!" He replied, throwing her off. He grinned and continued, "It's being prepared to risk your life!"

Nami's eyes widened, her jaw dropping slightly in shock. I smiled at Luffy, who was still smiling at her. I let out a fake stressed sigh, shaking my head with a fond grin, "Dammit, Luffy, if we die, it's gonna be _all_ your fault."

He laughed, grinning at me over his shoulder, "We'll be fine!"

I had to smack down my inner fan girl for the nth time today because of that grin. Instead, I laughed with him, "If you say so."

"Yeah. _Right_," Lori snorted, rolling her eyes. I laughed at Luffy's pout. Even though we were still in a helluva lotta trouble, hearing Luffy say that set me at ease. I glanced back at Nami to see that the pirate had swiped the matches from her, lighting the cannons' fuse himself. I stared blankly at the shrinking fuse as Luffy whined, "We'll be fine, Johanna!"

"Whatever you say, captain," She drawled out sarcastically.

"Uh… Guys…?"

Luffy perked up, "Really?"

Lori rolled her eyes and ignored him, looking at me, "Remind me to make a 'Sarcasm' sign for him later."

My eyes didn't leave the fuse, "Guys!"

They both stared at me as I pointed to the cannon. They looked to where I was pointing and noticed the shrinking fuse as well.

There was a pause before all hell broke loose.

Luffy's eyes bugged out and he yelled in fear. Lori plugged her ears, getting ready for the cannon to fire. I screamed in fear as well, hugging Lori tightly, "Y-You said we'd be fine, Luffy!"

"W-Water! We need water!" He yelled, grabbing the cage bars and looking for something to douse the fuse. I continued screaming, getting more panicked as Luffy grew more frantic. Lori, however, stayed calm. She just sat there, plugging her ears and staring at the cannon.

"This is bad!" Luffy realized, unable to find anything to stop the fuse.

"What was your first clue, idiot?!" I retorted, still clinging to Lori desperately.

We both stopped panicking at the scream that came from the cannon. We looked over and saw Nami's face contorted in pain, gripping the end of the fuse in her hands. I winced in sympathetic pain; knowing how much burning the palms of your hands hurt.

…

Let's just say I'm not a very good cook and leave it at that, alright?

Okay.

Luffy wore a look of shock, "You…"

Nami ignored him, gritting her teeth tightly and keeping a firm grip on the dying fuse. I sighed in relief, relaxing my tight grip on Lori while still holding on. Luffy noticed a group of the pirates raise their weapons to attack her and called, "Behind you!"

"Time to die!" One of them announced, all of them lunging for her at the same time. I held my breath and tightened my grip on Lori again, closing my eyes as Nami did. I hid my face behind Lori's shoulder, waiting for another pained scream, but everything fell suspiciously quiet. The only thing I heard was the music playing from my iPod. One of the idiotic pirates must've left it on.

I peeked and sighed in relief when I saw Zoro stopping all the guards with his sheathed swords, the sheaths planted firmly against their faces.

"Hey, hey…" He chided, his trademark smirk stretched across his face, "All of these people picking on just one girl?"

Nami looked at his back in shock, unsure of who he was and why he saved her.

**_I feel it deep within!_**

**_It's just beneath the skin!_**

**_I must confess that I feel like a monster!_**

"(_All_ of the pairings!)" Lori teased, breaking the tension. I snorted, trying desperately not to laugh too loudly. Luffy beamed at the new arrival, calling, "Zoro!"

Zoro shoved all the pirates easily, sending them tumbling backwards. Nami continued staring at him in shock, realization setting in when he rested one of his swords on his shoulder. He glanced at her, inspecting her as he grunted, "Injured?"

She still seemed dazed, "W-What?"

"Are you injured?" He repeated, a bit annoyed. She shook her head numbly, finally gaining her awareness, "N-No, I'm fine…" He nodded, turning to face Buggy and his crew again.

"Whew, thank God!" Luffy sighed out, relieved, "You were actually able to find this place!" Zoro glared at him over his shoulder, starting in surprise when he noticed Lori and me in the cage with Luffy. It surprised me that his hair was as bright as I imagined it being. I definitely wouldn't wanna wake up to that mess of moss first thing in the morning; it'd _kill_ my eyes. He was also just as buff as I imagined he'd be, his muscles flexing under his thin white work-out shirt.

I beamed at him, letting go of Lori and waving at him with both my hands, "Hey~! You must be that 'Zoro' Luffy was telling us about!"

Lori snorted, moving her fingers from her ears, "No, _really_? What gave _that_ away?"

I pouted at her as Luffy ignored us, demanding, "Hurry up and get us outta here!" Zoro looked at Luffy, clearly exasperated, "What the hell are you doing? First you get carried off by a bird, and now _this?_"

"Hey, that wasn't _my_ fault!" I whined, gaining Zoro's attention again, "If I hadn't flown here, we would've drowned!"

"Sometimes, I kinda wished we'd drowned," Lori grumbled, leaning back against the cage bars and crossing her arms. Zoro glared at us, suspicious, "Who the hell are _you_ guys?"

I grinned at him, too used to Lori's death glares to be affected by his, "We're your new nakama! Nice ta meetcha!" His eyes widened, looking at Luffy for confirmation. He just gave his signature grin. Zoro sighed and started walking towards us, "You have _got _to be kidding me-"

"So _you_ are Roronoa Zoro," Buggy announced, getting a bit annoyed that he was being so blatantly ignored. Zoro shifted his attention over to Buggy, his face showing how little he really cared. I don't think he even realized Buggy had been there. Buggy got a bit more annoyed with how relaxed he was and asked, "Are you here for my head?"

I snickered, "(Ha. GAY~!)"

Lori let out an exaggerated sigh, letting her head fall to her chest. I continued grinning, looking at her and laughing. Luffy looked confused, pouting as he ordered, "Stop speaking that gibberish! I can't understand you~!"

I snickered and patted his head, "Don't worry, you wouldn't have gotten it anyway~"

He just looked more confused at that. Lori shook her head, glaring at me. I grinned at her, unabashed. I heard Zoro sigh and I turned my attention back to the conversation between him and Buggy. Zoro drew his swords, grumbling, "I guess words can't make him understand."

I watched in fascination as Zoro gripped Wado Ichimonji between his teeth, the guard of the famous sword pressed against his cheek. He held the other two swords in his hands, his muscles tensing to spring. It was impressive to watch, needless to say. I tried imitating him once by gripping a broom between my teeth. While the broom was probably a bit heavier (I think. I don't know, I'm not really sure what the weight of a sword is), I couldn't let go of the broom in fears of my face smashing in the ground. Watching him hold a sword in his mouth without any problems was pretty cool.

…

Heh.

Buggy got ready to fight himself, holding four knives in one hand and once in the other. He smirked with a crazy expression, licking the single knife tauntingly. I wrinkled my nose in disgust, a bit disturbed. How did he not cut his tongue doing that?!

"Time for you to die!" Buggy announced, raising his arms to attack.

But he was _way_ too slow for Zoro.

Just after he made his declaration, his body was severed into multiple pieces, his upper body, right leg and right arm falling to the ground. I didn't even see Zoro move! What the hell?! I whistled lowly in awe, watching as Zoro sheathed his swords from the other side of Buggy's body. I mumbled, "Impressive…"

"Damn, I can't even use a real knife at home," Lori said, also in awe. I nodded in agreement as Luffy announced, "Wow, this guy was really weak!"

Buggy's crew members started smirking, gaining confused looks from everyone but Lori and I. They started chuckling, adding to the confusion. My eyes widened when I remembered what was going to happen. I rushed forward and grabbed the cage bars.

"Zoro, _look out!_" I screamed, trying to warn him. He tensed and started to turn around.

But I was _too late_.

A knife pierced through Zoro's haramaki and he winced in pain. I watched in horror as his blood started to seep into the green fabric, the knife dripping some of the blood onto the ground. Zoro dropped to his knees, clutching the place he'd been stabbed to try and stop the bleeding. I swallowed down some of the food I'd eaten earlier as it tried to come back up, my face growing pale. I heard Lori wince in pain behind me. I gripped the place he'd been stabbed on myself, as if I could feel his pain. Luffy cried out in distress, rushing over to grip the bars next to me.

"_Zoro!_"

_ Ending Theme: Demons by Imagine Dragons_

* * *

**_Buggy - Over my Head (Better Off Dead) (Sum41)_**

**_Zoro – Monster (Skillet)_**

* * *

_To be honest, I wanted to write a bit more for this chapter, but I just couldn't find the time. Sorry! :(_

_Update: Finished the new ending~ And this chapter's a lot longer now! Enjoy~_

_And I really hate to do this, but next week, I will NOT be updating._

_Update (again): Unless you guys hadn't noticed, I'm going to be a bit late with the next chapter too… I'll explain why it was late then._

_I have tests and projects galore next week, and I just won't have time to write anything._

_In exchange, I'll go back and fix this chapter along with the others. I'll end this chapter in the place I wanted to and go back and correct all small things I've been meaning to fix for a while now._

_I hope that makes up for it!_

_Love you all~_

_Haruhi_


	8. Chapter 7: Emergency Escapes

_Man, I can't _believe_ how understanding you guys were with my break! It means so much to me, truly thank you all!_

_As for the reason why this chapter is a few days late..._

_So to add onto my mess of projects, tests and presentations, my uncle, who was like my second father and was also mentioned in the beginning of this story, passed away. I was in Minnesota all last weekend and part of this week, and I'm still going through a lot of stuff right now trying to help my mom get through this (he was her brother). So if I (for some reason) miss another deadline, I can almost guarantee it's because of that._

_I'm really sorry ahead of time._

_Moving on, as I mentioned in my end-note for the last chapter, I went back through my other chapters and fixed/modified a few things. I thought I'd let you guys know which chapters changed and which didn't, in case you wanted to go back and read the new stuff!_

_Prologue: _Heavily_ changed; only the idea of it is really the same, give or take a few lines that I kept._

_Chapter 1: Content modified; added in more details and changed some of the formatting._

_Chapter 2: Content modified; added in more details and changed some of the formatting._

_Chapter 3: Modified; added a few minor things and changed some of the formatting._

_Chapter 4: Modified; added a few minor things and changed some of the formatting._

_Chapter 5: Modified; added a few minor things and changed some of the formatting._

_Chapter 6: modified; added a few minor things, changed some of the formatting, and added in the ending I originally planned to go to (but ran low on time)_

_If you don't wanna go back and re-read everything, that's fine! Oh, but I recommend at _least_ going back and reading the new 'ending' to chapter 6; you'll be confused at the beginning of this chapter otherwise._

_Bu~t if you're new to this story, then ignore this. My work's ALWAYS been like this. *laughs nervously*_

_AND GUYS_

GUYS

_MY BABY SEESTER DREW US FOR THE STORY~! I'M SO HAPPY! QAQ_

_RIGHT NOW, SHE'S ONLY FINISHED ME, BUT IT YA WANNA SEE THEM, I'M GOING TO BE LEAVING THE LINKS ON MY PROFILE!_

_Again, thank you all _so much_ for understanding my kinda-hiatus~!_

_Thanks to xForeverGamerx for adding this story to their alerts!_

_More thanks to Nightwatching, Blahblahcat and Blue..Soldier.4710 (Sorry, I had to add another period to your name cause Fanfiction thought it was a website!) for adding this story to their favs!_

_EXTRA SPECIAL THANKS TO ChibiSpitfire FOR ALL THE LOVE AND SUPPORT THROUGH THIS TOUGH TIME~! I LOVE YA, BBY~!_

_Here's the new chapter for all you lovely people~_

* * *

**_QuirkyFox: _**_Thank you for understanding! And I _am_ having fun writing each week, but my professors all decided to assign projects last week and ruin my free time, and what little time was left was spent getting physically and mentally prepared for the funeral. Unfortunately, that's life!_

* * *

**_Disclaimer: Y'know, if I had a dime for every time I'm gonna have to say this, I'll get enough money to own One Piece one day... Right? Oh, but I don't think I could buy Lori... Unless I bribe her with food... Hmm..._**

* * *

_Intro Theme: Fight Together by Namie Amuro_

Sometimes, I wish I had a better memory.

Not only would I be able to avoid that awkward situation where I almost never remember someone's name, but I would remember the more important things in life.

For example, like remembering that a certain marimo gets stabbed in the back.

"Zoro!" I called again, watching in horror as blood continued to seep into his haramaki. He winced, his face growing pale. He slammed his free hand against the cannon so he wouldn't fall over, glancing at the knife imbedded in his side. "T-The hell is this…?" He wondered, his words becoming a bit slurred.

He turned and what I saw next made me gag. In the manga, the part where Buggy had been separated had just been a black void. But as I stared at the hand clutching the knife, I could clearly see the veins and muscles still working inside of it. Adding onto the disturbing fact that there was a freaking ghost hand stabbing Zoro in the back, I nearly threw up.

Luffy, however, was as unfazed as usual. He stared at the hand in wonder, asking, "What's with that hand?"

The hand started moving and knife was yanked out of the wound. Zoro winced in pain, doubling over as the bleeding got worse. The hand floated back over to where Buggy was standing, his body parts fusing back together. He smirked at us, amused by the confusion.

"Bara Bara no Mi," He declared proudly, his smirk growing wider, "That's the name of the Devil's Fruit I ate. I can't be killed by a sword! I'm a Splitting Man!" He threw his head back and laughed, snorting a couple of times. Nami stared at him in shock, speaking so softly I couldn't hear her.

Luffy, again, seemed unfazed by the turn of events. If anything, he was apathetic to the whole situation.

"Splitting man?" He asked, tilting his head a bit, "What is he, a monster?"

"…But aren't you a Rubber Man?" Lori questioned, looking at him, "You're logic doesn't make any sense."

I forced out a laugh, trying to shake off some of the uneasiness. My stomach was still churning from watching Zoro get stabbed and bleed as heavily as he was. Buggy stopped laughing, his smirk still stretched across his face.

"Although it's not critical, the wound is still pretty serious," He commented as Zoro glared at him, "This fight is over." Buggy's crew went wild as he towered over the bleeding swordsman, his body now fully reassembled.

"How the hell is that not a critical hit?!" I yelled, confused, "If anything it was super effective! Zoro's lucky he didn't get K.O.'ed!"

Lori glared at me, "Haru, this isn't the time for Pokémon references!"

I pretended to look shocked and turned to her, "It's _always_ the time for a good Pokémon joke! Who would I be if I didn't make them?!"

I was a Pokémon geek to the core, having bought all the games since they started coming out. I could get a bit obsessive over it, considering I had a collection of over ten thousand cards back in our world. I knew the whole original theme by heart, as did Lori. But unlike her, in each game I got, I would try to get every single Pokémon in the game. And by every Pokémon, I _mean_ every Pokémon. I would get a Bulbasaur, then an Ivysaur and so on. It was a good time killer for me, considering I would complete the games so fast I had nothing better to do anyway.

I gave up my act and started snickering, but Lori ignored me. Buggy's crew cheered even louder, chanting his name. Zoro winced in pain, nearly collapsed on the ground, "T-This isn't looking good…"

I sobered up when I noticed how much pain Zoro was in. Lori was right; this wasn't the time to be cracking jokes. We had to get out of here, and we had to do it fast. The more blood Zoro lost, the worse our situation became.

Luffy sucked in a deep breath and yelled, "_Attacking from behind is cowardly, Big Red Nose!_"

Everyone fell silent.

I gaped at Luffy, shocked with the volume he'd yelled at. He was fuming angrily, gripping the cage bars so tightly his knuckles were nearly white. I could understand his anger, but doesn't he remember what happened the last time I called Buggy that?!

"Who…" Buggy growled, his whole crew backing away in fear, "_Who has a big red nose?!_" Buggy whirled around and launched his hand at Luffy, the knife glinting ominously in the sunlight. My eyes widened and I tried to somehow get in the way, but by the time I'd reacted, Luffy had already been knocked back.

"_Luffy!_" I screamed, rushing over to where he'd fallen. I felt as though my heart had stopped, and my hands were shaking more than I thought was possible. I could feel the blood draining from my face as I got over to him. I let out a shaky sigh of relief when I saw Luffy had caught the knife in his teeth. I nearly collapsed on the cage floor in relief, but I gave him a shaky smile instead. Luffy smiled back, still clenching the blade in his teeth.

"Y-You scared the crap outta me, ya idiot!" I huffed, slugging his shoulder. He laughed, but it was more forced usual, "Shorry, Haru." He somehow could talk around the knife without cutting himself. I frowned as he glared at Buggy, growling out, "Thish fight ish _mine_."

I shivered a bit, feeling the malice in his words. I didn't think Luffy had it in him to be so cold, but I guess I was wrong.

Wait.

What'd he say?

Was he… Was he apologizing for taking the fight…?

I realized that he remembered the declaration I'd made on the way here; how _I _wanted to be the one to kick Buggy's ass. I was surprised; I didn't think he had a reason to apologize for that. I shook my head, smiling at him and telling him as much, "No biggie. Just gimme the next one, alright?"

He nodded, his eyes still trained on Buggy. He took a deep breath and declared, "I'm gonna kick your ass, Buggy!" He flexed his jaw and bit down harder, the knife's blade shattering like glass under the pressure. A few of the splinters nicked Luffy's lips, but he didn't seem to care. He spat out the blade in his mouth as Buggy and his crew burst out laughing.

"You? Kick _my_ ass?" Buggy asked, nearly in hysterics, "You're _dreaming!_ All five of you are going to die today!" He smirked, looking between us all, "Now, how should I finish you guys off?" His crew continued to laugh and I clenched my teeth. I started looking for a weak point in the cage. When I couldn't find any, I shook the door, hoping it would come loose. Unsurprisingly, it didn't work.

"I thought I told you: you're not gonna be able to bust outta solid concrete like that," Lori commented, watching me try to pry the bars apart, "We aren't strong enough."

"Well, do ya have any _better_ ideas?" I snapped, glaring back at her, "We gotta get outta here, or we're screwed!" Lori didn't a chance to respond. Luffy burst out laughing as she opened her mouth, an angry look still on his face. I stared at him, still hanging off the bars as I asked, "Uh… Luffy…?"

"We're not gonna die!" He declared, not looking at me. I relaxed a bit as the laughter quieted down, Buggy and his crew staring at Luffy in confusion. Luffy smirked and looked at Zoro, "Zoro, run!"

Everyone but Lori and I froze in shock at that. They stared at Luffy, completely baffled.

"You're telling the guy who came to save you to _leave_?!" Nami yelled, not getting the hint, "What about _you_?!" Zoro started to protest, but he caught the smile Luffy threw his way. He smirked, understanding what Luffy had planned. He slowly pushed himself up, grunting, "Roger."

Nami balked in shock as Zoro took off running, heading straight for the cannon. Buggy glared at him, drawing back his hand from Luffy and yelling, "You can't escape from me!"

He prepared to throw his other hand, but Zoro cut through his torso with ease. Being the idiot that he was, Buggy didn't realize this was a distraction. He threw his head back and laughed as Zoro kept running.

"Idiot! Your three-sword style won't work on me!" He gloated. But he was gloating to no one. He finally realized Zoro had kept running and glared, "Hey, listen when I'm talking to you!"

Zoro ignored him and stopped at the cannon, crouching low and leaning the barrel on his shoulder. Nami's eyes widened in realization and she ran over to us, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire. Buggy and his crew of idiots could only stare in horror as Zoro grunted and threw the cannon over the base. The cannon tipped slowly and fell over, now pointing back at the crew. Buggy screamed in fear, his eyes bugging out. His crew panicked with him as Zoro slumped against the cannon, wincing and panting from the pain.

"What?! We're gonna die!" Buggy announced, staring down the barrel as we had been earlier. I sighed in relief, slumping against the cage bars. Luffy laughed as Zoro glared at Nami and grunted, "Light it!"

Nami snapped out of her shock, looking at him, "E-Eh?"

"Hurry!"

"O-Okay!"

Nami pulled the matches from her pocket and Buggy continued flipping out, waving his hand to try and stop her, "W-Wait! The Buggy Bomb is still in there!" Nami ignored his pleas and struck the match, it lighting on the first try. I smirked as she re-lit the burnt fuse, sparks jumping off the end. I laughed with Luffy, not over the fact that they were probably gonna die, but because karma was being such a bitch. Zoro and Nami turned away just as the fuse disappeared into the cannon.

There was a pause before the cannon went off with another concussive '**_BOOM!_**'

I winced at the sound and covered one of my ears, coughing from all the smoke that'd blown out of the cannon. My eyes watered a bit and I tried to wave some of the smoke away, hearing Nami and Lori coughing as well. I saw a shape coming towards the cage and tensed to fight, but relaxed when the shape turned out to be a pale Zoro. He glanced at us before hauling the cage over his shoulder. He winced in pain and his knees buckled a bit, but he kept a firm grip.

But for those of us inside the cage weren't as graceful. We slid to the side he was holding, falling over each other as we slid. I planted my foot on Luffy's face, one hand on my hat on my head and the other grabbing the cage bars in front of me as I tried to stay standing. Luffy groaned, trying to move my foot, "Geroff!" I was going to apologize, but as soon as I moved my foot, I wobbled and accidently stepped back onto Lori's hand.

"Hey, watch it, fat-ass!" She yelled, tugging her hand out from under my foot. She glared at me and kicked me in the back of my knee, causing me to buckle and fall back on them all. The back of my head collided with Luffy's face and we both groaned in pain, clutching our respective aching parts. Even with my hat there to kinda cushion the blow, it still freaking hurt!

I glared at Lori, pained tears welling in my eyes, "It was an _accident_, you jerk!"

"I don't care, that hurt like a bitch!" She growled, cradling her red hand. I lunged to try and strangle her, but Zoro started running before I could reach her. He jostled us all, sending us sprawling in the cage yet again. I yelped and clung to the cage bars behind me, trying not to slip on the bars under me.

Luffy laughed, an imprint of my shoe on his cheek and a red mark on his forehead as he cheered, "Go, Zoro~!" I laughed and punched a hand in the air, adding on, "Yeah, you got it, bro!" Zoro grunted in effort, moving as fast as he could with a concrete cage and three passengers on his back. I was surprised he didn't develop back problems later. But then again, with how much he could normally bench, I dismissed the thought.

Lori was pushing Luffy away with her foot, clinging to the other side of the cage. Her foot, funny enough, was right in the middle of his face. She glared, finally shoving Luffy away as she yelled, "You guys _aren't_ helping!"

"Well, what _else_ are we supposed to do?" I asked. I slipped a bit as Zoro started running down some stairs. I hit my ankle against a bar and cursed. I caught myself before I fell too far and regained my balance, my ankle throbbing painfully. I was having a hard time balancing on the bars, but at least I was doing better than Luffy. He didn't even bother trying to brace himself against the bars; he was just smacking against the cage freely.

But apparently, that wasn't what he was concerned about.

He whined and rubbed the cheek Lori had kicked, "Why do you guys keep kicking my face?!"

Lori snapped her glare over to him, "Shut up, you!" Luffy ignored her, continuing to whine and rub his aching face. I laughed, pressing myself against the cage bars to keep myself as steady as possible. I was reaching around the bar to my head, trying to keep my hat on.

Zoro finally snapped, "Would you all _shut up_?!"

"That's what _I've_ been saying!" Lori snapped back.

He glared at her as best he could, "You're not helping either, woman!"

"…Touché."

I was laughing so hard that tears were welling up in my eyes. My laughs weren't even coming out anymore; it was as though I was laughing on mute. Luffy laughed with me, finally anchoring himself to the bars below him so he'd stop bouncing around. Zoro huffed as he reached the bottom of the stairs, wincing when he strained his side. He ignored the pain and kept running, his breaths coming out in labored gasps.

I wiped my eyes, taking deep breaths to calm down. I looked over Lori's shoulder towards the hideout. Somehow, no one had noticed us leave. We'd even left a trail of blood to follow, curtesy of our bleeding marimo. Although right now, they had more important things to worry.

Like not getting blasted by the incredibly over-powered cannonball.

I remembered the looks of fear on their faces and smirked to myself. They were absolutely _priceless_. While normally, I'd hate instilling damage like that on people, they deserved every bit of bad karma that came at them.

The blood trail we left was growing thicker the farther we went. Zoro slowed down as well, his pants labored and heavy. He was almost dragging his feet by the time he set us down. He doubled over, clutching his side and wincing. I grew worried at the amount of blood on his haramaki and said, "Zoro, we're far enough… You can stop…"

He shook his head, dragging the cage behind him down the street. I let go of the cage bars and relaxed on the ground of the cage, still watching him carefully. I saw the 'Pet Food' sign ahead and relaxed a bit. If things continued following the plot like they had been, he'd be stopping in a little while anyway.

I shifted my sitting position and my ocarina in my pocket clicked against the floor of the cage. I paled in realization and quickly pulled it out of my pocket, worried I'd broken it during the escape. Somehow, the ocarina was unscathed, the glaze glinting in the sunlight. I sighed in relief, holding it against my chest.

The cage grinded to a halt, stopping just in front of the pet store like it did in the manga. Zoro was gasping for air, his hands on his knees as he struggled to catch his breath. I was going to ask him if he was okay when he suddenly collapsed on the ground next to the cage.

"Zoro!" I called, getting as close to him as I could. I reached through the bars and rolled him over, checking his wound as best I could. It was still bleeding profusely, since he'd been exerting himself way too hard for the condition he was in. I looked for something to use as a rag, but remembered that my bag was left back at the camp. I cursed and was about to take my off shirt to improvise when Zoro groaned in pain.

"I-I'm fine…" He grumbled, opening one eye to glance at me, "I just need some sleep…"

"That's bullshit!" I yelled, glaring at him, "You are literally _bleeding your guts out_, and all you 'need' is _sleep_?!"

He ignored me, his eye drifting closed again. I let out a heavy sigh, letting go of my shirt so it covered my stomach again, "Fine, but if you die of blood loss, I have every right to say 'I told ya so'." He smirked at that, chuckling under his breath. I let a small smile spread on my face, ignoring how frustrated I was with him at the moment.

"Haru, his blood loss means his power level's rising," Lori commented, smirking at the nearly unconscious man, "Don't you remember?" I laughed, leaning back against the cage bars and shaking my head, "Of course, how could I forget?"

Zoro frowned and opened his eyes, looking between us. We stared back as he asked, "Who are you guys?"

I sighed, smirking lightly, "You don't remember us saying we're your new nakama? Man, and I thought _my_ memory was bad."

"Just go to sleep," Lori added, waving her hand at him. He glared at her and was about to get up when Luffy said, "Zoro, these are our new nakama! They were on that bird I shot at!" Zoro looked between us again, doubtful. I smiled and waved.

"My name's Haruhi. The girl with the sour face over there," I pointed to Lori, who was now scowling at me, "is my sister, Johanna."

Zoro glanced at Lori and she waved, her face impassive. He was still frowning as he asked, "How the hell were you both on that bird?"

"That bird was me," I said, raising my hand. Zoro's eyes widened as I continued, "And before you ask, yes: I ate a Devil's Fruit. Just like Luffy and Buggy did." He looked as though he wanted to ask something else when a bark cut him off. We all looked over to the store's porch and saw a dog sitting on it. It stared back at us, unmoving. The closer I looked, though, the more it looked as though he was glaring at us. Zoro frowned and grumbled, "The hell's with this dog?"

"Dog?" Luffy said, perking up and grinning. I remembered what was going to happen, but reacted too late. Luffy started rocking the cage and we slowly made our way over to the dog. I slipped and fell on my face, smacking my nose against one of the bars.

We stopped just as quickly as we started. I sat up and glared at Luffy, clutching my aching nose. He didn't notice me, staring at the dog in fascination. I smacked in the back of his head, earning a pained yelp in response.

"You idiot!" I snapped, my voice a bit nasally, "_Warn _someone before ya do that!" He whined and looked at me with a pout, cradling the lump on the back of his head.

"That _hurt~!_"

"So does my nose! You don't see _me_ whining about it!"

He pouted at me and I sighed, pulling my hand away to check for blood. Thankfully, there was none. I hated getting nosebleeds. I'd only ever had two in my life, but both times were enough to make me hate them.

I carefully scrunched up my nose, testing for how much pain I was in. It was only a twinge now, although I bet the bridge of my nose was still a little red. I glared at Luffy, who was now making faces at the unmoving dog. Zoro had moved to lean against one of the pillars, wincing and pressing a hand against his wound. Lori was relaxed in the back of the cage, keeping as far away from us as possible.

"It's not doing anything!" Luffy declared, pulling his cheeks much wider than a normal human would, "Do you think he's dead?"

Zoro shrugged, regretting it when he winced a bit, "Who cares."

Luffy stared at the dog, letting go of his cheeks. They snapped back into place, not even a red mark from where he'd pinched himself. He reached out, pointing a finger at the dog. I smirked and chided, "I wouldn't do that, Luffy."

He ignored me, continuing to reach towards the dog. He poked it right between its eyes and I waited for the inevitable. The dog glared at him, much to his surprise. It let out a soft growl before biting him on the face. Luffy screamed in fear, grabbing the dog and trying to pull him off. Lori and I started laughing as he cried comical tears. Zoro let a sweat drop roll down the back of his head, staring at the idiot that was our captain.

"Yeah, I was bit in the face by a dog, too!" Lori choked out, snickering at Luffy's pain, "Hurts, don't it?" I continued laughing with her as he continued trying to pull the dog off, his face stretching in the process. He whined and begged, "Hey, help me~!"

"Hey, I warned ya!" I said between laughs, "This is all on you!" He whined and yelped as the dog bit down harder, growling loudly. He pulled on the dogs jaws, trying to pry them open. The dog was determined, though, and held on tightly. If anything, his jaws clenched harder.

Finally, I took pity on the poor boy and grabbed the dog, pulling it away from him, "Alright, he learned his lesson, little guy! Let him go!" The dog growled and held fast, like I thought he would. I rolled my eyes and reached for his muzzle, gently tickling his nose. He wrinkled it, torn between instinctively letting go and keeping a grip. I continued tickling and finally, the dog relinquished his grip on my captain.

Luffy's cheek snapped back to him and he fell back, groaning in pain. I smiled and set the growling dog down so he wouldn't get the chance to bite me. The dog looked at me curiously, sniffing my hand. I stayed still, letting him. Luffy sat up, rubbing his cheek with a wince.

"If you could've helped me earlier, why didn't you?" He whined, moving his hand to reveal comical teeth marks. I snickered, pulling my hand away from the dog, "I warned you and you didn't listen to me. You needed to learn your lesson somehow."

He pouted and I smiled back. The dog perked up at the sounds of footsteps and looked. I followed his gaze and saw Nami walking towards us, mine and Lori's bags over her shoulder. I laughed in relief and crawled through the cage to get closer to her, gripping the bars, "Our bags!"

She placed the bags in front of me and I carefully maneuvered them through the bars, handing Lori's bag to her. I checked through my bag to find everything in order, my headphones and iPod sitting on the top of my pile of clothes. I sighed in relief and pulled them out, hanging my headphones around my neck and sliding my iPod in my pocket. I closed up the bag and pulled it on, tightening the straps with a happy hum. I beamed at Nami, "Thanks!"

She nodded and looked at Luffy, tensing a bit. He tilted his head in response. She scoffed, reaching in her pocket as she grumbled, "I guess I'll give this to you… After all, you _did_ save me earlier…" She pulled a concrete key out of her skirt's pocket, dropping it on the ground in front of him.

Luffy recognized the item and his eyes lit up. "The key to the cage!" He exclaimed, beaming up at her, "Did you go get it just for me?"

"What are we, chopped liver?" I pouted, crossing my arms. He ignored me, still beaming at Nami as she replied, "_Don't_ misunderstand me. I don't wanna owe you for anything, that's all."

Zoro smirked, sitting up a bit more. Luffy laughed and reached for the key, "Thanks! We're saved now-"

Before Luffy could even brush the key, the dog grabbed it with his teeth. We all stared at him in shock and he stared back, apathetic. He tilted his head back and let the key fall back, swallowing it whole. All of our jaws dropped in shock, staring at the lump that slowly made its way down the dogs' throat.

…Well, _shit_.

_Ending Theme: Demons by Imagine Dragons_

* * *

**_No themes this time!_**

* * *

_Blegh. These past couple weeks have sucked, to say the least. My dog is also sick now, to add onto this mess._

_Something or someone must hate me right now._

_On another (read: happier) note, I have a couple of questions for y'all; One) if I had to ship Lori with anyone, who would it be and why? Just curious. 'Cause I'm thinking of dropping hints of one ship in here and was wondering if y'all were on the same page with me._

_L: What ship._

_Uh... Nothing, nothing at all. It's all hypothetical, I promise! *laughs nervously*_

_L:_ _*glares*_

_A-Anyway, before I die, the other question; do you guys like the idea of the theme songs?_

_If ya wanna leave your thoughts, feel free to leave them in a PM or in a review~!_

_Love you all~_

_Haruhi_


	9. Chapter 8: The Mane Event

_Whelp._

_This is a first._

_I actually finished this chapter early._

And_ I've even started the next one._

_…_

_WTF._

_On a completely different subject, I'm so proud of my baby seester~ She played in her senior all-stars game Wednesday night, and she did so well~_

_Thanks to TransFanFreak101 and Morietachibana for adding this story to their alerts~!_

_More thanks to XxFire-PhoenixxX, Morietachibana and Flameoflegend for adding this story to their favs~!_

_Let's get this party started!_

* * *

**_Tenshi Amaya: _**_Thanks for the compliments! I hope this new chapter meets your expectations! And thanks for the thought~! She's doing a lot better now!_

**_QuirkyFox: _**_It's nice to see you too, my frequent reviewer~! Thanks for the praise! I missed writing too, and it's actually really helping me cope with all the stress right now. :) I'll be updating every Friday once again~!_

**_XxFire-PhoenixxX: _**_No prob! Thanks for the continued support~!_

**_Bakatsune: _**_Aaaaahhhh, thank you so much for the praise~! Lori and I also appreciate the compliments~! L: Wait, I didn't say that- *elbows her hard in the gut* We really do~! :)_

* * *

**_Disclaimer: I'm still not Oda-sensei. No matter how much I dream. I don't own any of the references Lori and I make, nor do I own Lori. I only own little ol' me and this idea I came up with while on a paddle boat._**

* * *

_Intro Theme: Fight Together by Namie Amuro_

When the dog swallowed the key, a blanket of silence covered us all. Luffy had the same look of happiness on his face, frozen from the shock. Nami's jaw dropped and she stared at the dog with a paling face. Zoro's eyes widened to the point where I thought they were gonna bug out of his head.

Lori and I were the only ones _not_ panicking.

I mean, we both knew what was going to happen, but I thought at least _I _was going to freak out. But all I could think about was how the hell the dog had swallowed the key without choking. I mean, hell, I can't even swallow an _ice cube_ without choking on it! How the hell had it swallowed a _key_ that easily?!

Lori didn't seem to care at all. She yawned and stretched out on the bottom of the cage, "Wake me up when we get outta here."

With the silence finally broken, Luffy started screaming, startling Nami and the dog.

He grabbed the dog by his throat, shaking him violently and he screeching, "Dammit, spit it out! Spit it out _now!_"

I paled and grabbed his shoulders, trying to pull him away, "D-Dude, if you strangle the dog, you're _never _getting that key back!"

He ignored me, continuing to yell at the dog to spit the key out. I gripped both his shoulders and pulled back, desperately trying to separate him and the poor dog. Luffy stayed rooted in his spot, barely even flinching from my grip. The dog was growling and snarling at Luffy, struggling in his grip. I switched strategies and grabbed his cheeks, stretching them back.

"Hey!"

There was a pause. We all turned to look at the newcomer. Standing tall at the end of the street was an old man wearing old leather armor, a spear clenched tightly in one hand. If I hadn't known that this man was practically harmless, I would've been a bit intimidated. As it was, I stared at him blankly with everyone else.

"Stop picking on ShuShu, you damn brats!" He ordered, pointing his spear at Luffy.

Luffy tilted his head, confused. He released his grip on the dog, looking down at him, "ShuShu?"

Zoro glared at the man, sitting up a bit more as he asked, "Who're you, old man?"

The mayor, not at all intimidated by the bleeding swordsman, placed a hand on his hip and planted his spear in the ground. "I'm the mayor of this town!" He declared proudly, tilting his head back a bit. I let go of Luffy's cheeks and they snapped back, knocking him off balance. He smacked his forehead against the bars and started whining, but I ignored him.

"You don't _look_ like a mayor, dude," I commented, still inspecting his apparel.

He ignored me and glanced at us all, "Who are you people?"

I opened my mouth to respond when he noticed Zoro. His eyes widened, "Oh my, that's a serious injury… Were you attacked by Buggy?" I tried to get a word in, but he cut me off yet again, "You should go see a doctor."

I was fuming by this point, "We could answer some of your damn questions if you _let us._" The mayor flinched at my tone, holding his spear in front of him protectively. I continued glaring at him, annoyed. While I would be a huge hypocrite for saying so, I hated it when people would ask a bunch of questions and not let the other party answer any of them. I was working on it myself, but I still got pissed when others did it.

The mayor watched me warily, mumbling, "S-Sorry…"

I huffed and crossed my arms, looking away from the man. He relaxed a bit, but still kept me in the corner of his eye. He walked over to Zoro and knelt down, chatting with him too quietly for me to hear. I looked at Lori, who was indeed asleep.

I felt a sweat drop roll down the back of my head, "She… really fell asleep…"

I stared at her peaceful face before sighing and mumbling, "(And she claims she's _not_ a copy of Zoro…)"

It had been a running joke I started when I noticed the similarities between the two. She even had the same habits as him. She would sleep when she was bored, she drank a lot of soda, and even her sense of direction was on the same level as his. It had freaked me out a little at first, but after I got over it, I couldn't help teasing her about it.

I turned back to the others to find Zoro and the mayor missing. I frowned, looking at Luffy and asking, "Where'd Zoro and that old guy go?"

Luffy looked at me before looking around. He frowned as well, "Huh… Where'd they go?"

Nami rolled her eyes, "The mayor took Zoro into that house." She pointed to one of the houses that had an open door and continued, "He said he'd check on him before getting him before getting a doctor."

I nodded, relaxing. The mayor exited the house as she finished her statement, a troubled look on his face.

"Stubborn boy…" He grumbled, glancing back at the house. I frowned and he explained, "I offered to let the village doctor check on him, but he said he'd be fine once he sleeps."

I sighed, shaking my head, "Figures…"

The mayor shook his head too. Nami knelt in front of ShuShu, drawing our attention. ShuShu glared at her, wary. She smiled and scratched his head, getting him to relax a bit. I watched them, leaning against the cage bars and crossing my arms and legs.

"So this dog's name is ShuShu?" Nami asked, looking up at the mayor. He smiled and nodded. Luffy tilted his head, staring at the dog, "It's just sitting there… What is it doing?"

"He's guarding the store."

Nami frowned, "Guarding the store?"

"Guarding the store!" I piped in, pretending to be shocked.

They shifted their stares onto to me, confused. I shrugged, my face heating up a bit, "Well, it seemed like everyone was saying it…"

Nami shook her head, turning her attention back to the mayor and asking, "Why is he guarding this store?"

The mayor looked at the store, a nostalgic smile crossing his face, "This store belonged to his owner… He was a good friend of mine…"

I frowned as he entered the store, pushing through the swinging doors. I glanced at Luffy, who was staring at the entrance. He had a strangely focused look on his face and it threw me off. I reached to tap his shoulder when the mayor came back out of the store, a bag of dry dog food in one hand and a bowl in the other.

He set the bowl down and filled the bowl with food. ShuShu sniffed the food and started eating, wagging his tail as he chowed down. I smiled with the others, watching the dog eat.

The mayor pet ShuShu as he continued, "I'm feeding him in his place."

"Why?" Nami asked.

I glared at her, smacking her leg hard. She yelped and glared back at me, "What?!"

"You're being insensitive!" I whispered, glancing at the mayor. His expression grew solemn, watching ShuShu eat his food. Nami frowned, confused.

"It's alright…" He mumbled, picking up the empty bowl, "I don't mind talking about it." I frowned, worried for him. He smiled at Nami, his eyes getting a bit misty, "My friend passed away three months ago from an illness…"

Nami's eyes widened and she started to apologize, but the kind old man shook his head. I watched him as he walked back into the pet store, presumably to put the food and bowl back. I took the time to glare at Nami, who was wearing a guilty expression.

The mayor came back out empty handed and he sat on the porch next to ShuShu, petting his head and scratching him behind the ears. ShuShu relaxed to his touch, leaning a bit closer. I smiled at the sight.

"'Could it be that he's waiting for his owner to return?'" The mayor continued, drawing our attention back to him, "That's what everyone else says."

He stared at the peaceful ShuShu, a thoughtful look on his face, "I don't think that's the case. ShuShu is a smart dog; he probably knows his owner is dead."

Nami frowned, "Then… Why is he guarding the store?"

"Because to ShuShu, this store is a treasure," The mayor replied, looking at her with a smile, "This is what his master left for him, and that's why he's guarding it."

He took his hand away from ShuShu. ShuShu looked at him, wondering why he stopped scratching. The mayor smiled at him and continued, "I've tried to move him many times, but he refuses to leave this place."

"Well, yeah," I commented as ShuShu yawned, "You can't force him to go anywhere he doesn't wanna go."

The mayor smiled at me, nodding in agreement. Out of nowhere, there was a slight rumbling sound. I turned towards the sound, frowning. I glanced at Luffy, who stared back at me.

"…Didja hear that…?" I whispered, trying not to alarm the mayor and Nami. He frowned and shook his head. My brow wrinkled and I glanced back down the street. I'd always had keen hearing (as did Lori), but that rumble hadn't been _that _quiet. There was another rumble, and this time, Luffy and ShuShu perked up too.

The mayor frowned as I crouched defensively in front of my sleeping sister, "What is it, ShuShu?"

ShuShu began growling, staring in the same direction Luffy and I were. I pulled out my bow slowly, waiting for the inevitable encounter. Nami and the mayor were left in the dark until a faint roar passed through the streets.

They both looked at each other, eyes wide.

"W-What was that?!" Nami asked, trembling a bit. I nocked an arrow on my bow and waited, keeping my eyes on the street. I only had five more arrows, so if I had to shoot anything, I had to make it count.

The mayor paled in realization, mumbling, "He's here… 'Beast Tamer' Mohji is coming!"

Nami began panicking, "What?! A beast tamer?!" The mayor didn't answer her, getting up from his seat. ShuShu was still growling, his hackles standing on end from the tension. The mayor turned and ran down the street as quickly as he could, leaving a small dust cloud in his wake. Nami's eyes widened and she called, "Wait for me!" as she followed him as quickly as she could.

Luffy and I, with nowhere else to go, stood our ground. Luffy stared down the street as I reached back and shook Lori, my eyes also trained on the end of the street. She didn't stir.

I glared at her and shook her harder, "C'mon, Jo, wake up!"

Still nothing.

I huffed in frustration, letting her sleep, "Fine, whatever."

I looked back at the street as a shadowy figure approached us. My eyes narrowed and I tightened my grip on my bow, raising it up. Luffy sighed, and turned to the snarling ShuShu, "Gimme that key back, will ya?"

"If it was optional, Luffy, I don't think we'd even _be_ in this situation," I commented, smirking at him.

Luffy ignored me as the man on the back of the large lion got closer to us. They stopped just in front of the cage, their shadow covering us completely.

"Oh? Were you abandoned by your comrades?" The man asked, leaning a bit so he could see over the lions head, "And you just got away, too…" My knuckles were turning white and my hand was trembling a bit. Normally, I wouldn't be scared of this pair of jokers, but considering we were trapped in this cage with no way out, it put the odds _immensely_ in their favor.

I stared at the duo as evenly as I could. Luffy turned to them and asked, "Who're you?"

The man puffed up, his ego swelling as he announced, "I am the beast tamer from Buggy's crew, Mohji!"

Luffy and I stared at the man silently, unfazed. Mohji kept his proud pose, waiting for our reaction.

Luffy finally caved, tilting his head in confusion, "What a weird costume…"

I let out a loud snort, biting my lip to keep myself from laughing any louder. Mohji glowered at us, the sun shadowing his face menacingly. Luffy continued staring at the man, unfazed. I was barely holding back my laughter, my grip on my bow relaxing a bit.

"This… This is my hair," Mohji growled out, his tension affecting his lion. Said lion was now growling softly, glaring at us as well.

I bit my lip harder, my shoulders shaking from my silent laughter. I couldn't tell if Luffy was _actually_ surprised, or he was just messing with the guy.

Knowing him, the lovable idiot was probably totally serious.

Luffy's eyes widened a bit as he declared, "That's even weirder!"

I couldn't take it anymore. I burst out in laughter, lowering my bow and holding my stomach. Tears welled up in my eyes as Mohji's face flushed from embarrassment, his hands shaking in unspoken fury. He tried to play off the flush by turning his attention to ShuShu, who hadn't stopped growling, "Y-You! You've been on edge since I got here!"

ShuShu continued growling as I continued laughing. Mohji smirked, regaining a bit of his confidence as he declared, "Don't you know who I am? I am 'Beast Tamer' Mohji!"

He let his confidence control him as he reached for ShuShu, "There is no animal that I cannot tame-!"

ShuShu chomped down on his hand as hard as he could.

Mohji cried out in pain, pulling at his hand to try and get ShuShu to let go. But ShuShu held tight, snarling at the man. I was crying from how hard I was laughing, unable to breathe. I let go of my bow and it fell to the floor of the cage as I curled up, hugging my stomach and slapping a hand on the ground. Luffy watched the whole exchange with an apathetic stare, tilting his head. I desperately gulped down breaths of air, trying to calm down as Mohji managed to free his hand.

He turned back to us, trying to play off his blunder, "You're going to die soon, anyway. I have no interest in taming you."

I snorted loudly, still giddy from my near death of laughter. He ignored me, staring Luffy down as he ordered, "Tell me where Roronoa Zoro is."

Luffy huffed, crossing his arms, "No!"

Mohji glowered at us, his face turning red again as he ordered, "Kill them, Ritchie!"

Ritchie snarled and lunged, raising his massive paw high.

I sobered up instantly, grabbing my bow. I didn't have time to draw the arrow back as Ritchie swung his paw down. The cage buckled under the immense pressure until it finally caved in. The concrete shattered and rained around us, most of the chunks the size of baseballs. I covered Lori, a few rocks hitting my back. Somehow, she was _still_ asleep.

"Wake up, ya idiot!" I yelled, turning back to the snarling lion.

She didn't stir.

"Dammit, do ya _wanna_ die?!" I screeched, glaring at her over my shoulder. Luffy ignored me, letting out a short laugh and grinning from ear to ear.

He stood up, announcing, "Alright! We're free!"

He didn't get time to say anything else before Ritchie hit him with his paw, sending him flying down the street and through some houses.

My eyes widened and I called, "Luffy!"

I didn't get a response. I turned my glare onto the enemy. I held up my bow as Mohji shifted his glare to me, "You missed one, Ritchie."

Ritchie roared and raised his paw again. My blood ran cold and I froze up for a second. When Ritchie started bringing his paw down, I instinctively raised my bow for protection. As luck would have it, my arrow stabbed him in the middle of his paw, just between the pads. Ritchie let out a pained roar, backing off to pull out the arrow and lick his wound. I gasped for air, my hands shaking madly as I stared at his massive paws.

If I'd been a _second_ later…

Mohji glowered at me, furious, "How _dare_ you harm Ritchie!"

I glared back, trying desperately to stop myself from shaking, "H-Hey, _you _were the one who ordered him to attack_ me!_"

He didn't respond, a furious roar echoing down the streets instead. I turned as a paw smashed into my side, sending me flying. My hat fell off my head as I flew through the streets. I crashed into the same building Luffy did, creating a new hole on impact. I groaned in pain, letting my bow fall from my hand. I laid in the settling debris, unwilling to move just yet. I took deep breaths, coughing slightly from the dust that'd been kicked up.

"D-Damn…" I groaned, wheezing as I pushed a piece of wood off me, "Did that lion take _steroids_ or what…?"

I heard footsteps approach me and I looked to see my captain brushing himself off, checking his hat for damage. When he didn't find anything wrong, he slapped his hat back on his head, mumbling, "That surprised me… But at least I'm out of the cage now."

He glanced around at the destroyed house, taking in the damage. He noticed the second hole and followed the path of destruction. Finally, his eyes fell on me. He tilted his head, frowning, "What're you doing?"

I groaned, pushing some more debris off my legs as I sat up, "N-Nothing…" He watched me as I picked myself up, grabbing my bow and dusting myself off. He nodded, realizing I was alright. I looked at him as he glanced around.

I frowned, "What?"

He looked back at me, "Where's Johanna?"

I froze. It felt as though my blood had turned to ice, all of the color leaving my face at once.

My eyes widened in realization as I slowly looked out the hole I'd created.

I left Lori behind.

All alone.

_And she was still asleep_.

Panic reared its ugly head and I fought my way through the debris, my breaths coming out in short pants. Luffy followed me, confused, "What's wrong?"

"That idiot is still back there! She'll be killed in an instant!" I yelled, rushing out of the house.

Luffy slowed down and I turned to him, confused, "What're you doing?! We have to go help her!"

He grinned at me, "She'll be fine!"

"How do you know that?!" I snapped, storming up to him and grabbing the front of his shirt. He continued smiling at me as I yelled, "My little sister is _by herself! _She's also _asleep_, unless you forgot! And you think she can fight them?! How in the _hell_-"

"She'll be fine," Luffy repeated louder, still smiling.

I stared at him, gritting my teeth to keep my temper down. I shoved him away and huffed angrily, running a hand through my hair. I glared at him, but he was unfazed. I hesitated before letting out a heavy sigh.

"If you're sure…" I grumbled, still unhappy with the whole situation. I glared at him and continued, "But if there's even a _scratch _on her, I'm going to _strangle_ you."

He nodded, still smiling. I huffed again, crossing my arms and staring him down, "What now?"

"How're you two still _alive?!_"

We turned to the voice to see Nami and the mayor gaping at us in shock.

"T-They're alive…" The mayor muttered with wide eyes.

Luffy tilted his head and crossed his arms, "Is it bad that we are?"

"You guys destroyed that house!" Nami yelled, scared to come closer, "You two should be dead!"

I rolled my eyes, "Luffy wouldn't get killed from _that_. And the only reason _I'm_ alive is 'cause he paved the way for me."

Nami turned to me, still in shock. I stared back at her, crossing my arms in annoyance. The more time we wasted stating the obvious, the more danger Lori was in. The mayor finally snapped out of his shock, shaking his head.

He stared at Luffy, who stared right back. He hesitated before finally asking, "What is your reason for coming to this city?"

uffy smirked, punching one hand into the other as he announced, "I just found my reason! For that map of the Grand Line and a navigator!"

Nami's jaw dropped as Luffy turned to me, "That guy in the weird costume said he was looking for Zoro. I'm wanna go look."

I nodded, holstering my bow in its pocket, "I'll take you there after I find Johanna."

Luffy nodded, and that was the only confirmation I needed.

I crouched low, shifting into my bird form in the process. I glanced at Luffy, who was staring at me in awe, "Get on. We'll get there faster this way."

His eyes lit up and he scrambled over, jumping onto my back. I stood up, ignoring the shocked stares from the mayor and Nami.

I spread my wings and called, "You're gonna wanna hold on, captain!" I didn't give him time to respond before I took off, eliciting a startled scream from Nami. The scream faded away as I climbed higher, looking around for the pet store.

Luffy let out an excited laugh, clenching a fist in my feathers as he yelled, "This is _so cool~!_" I smirked, puffing up a bit in pride. I glided along a cool breeze, trying my best to ignore my acrophobia as I looked down to the village.

I spotted smoke drifting to the sky, sad howls coming from the same area. I felt Luffy grip my feathers tighter as I flew closer. I coasted to land, careful to avoid the flames and the other houses. I landed in the middle of the street and Luffy jumped off my back right away. He stared at the burning store, ShuShu barking and howling at the depressing sight. Luffy's hat cast a shadow over his eyes as I clenched my fists in anger.

How much more destruction will they cause this town before they're satisfied…?

As I stewed in anger, Luffy noticed the large footprints leading away from the store.

He followed the trail, his shoulders tense and his fists clenched. I watched him go, gritting my teeth.

"You better get this bastard good, Luffy!" I called, frustrated I couldn't do more.

He didn't acknowledge my statement, disappearing into an alley.

I turned back to the store, spotting the cage nearby. My eyes widened when I noticed a figure still in the rubble. I rushed over, pushing some of the debris out of the way to reveal my sleeping sister. I quickly checked her over for any injuries and found her to be unscathed.

I let out a shaky sigh of relief, my head resting on her stomach. "Thank god…" I mumbled, tears pricking the corners of my eyes.

As if she'd heard me, Lori _finally _stirred from her slumber. She yawned and stretched out, her eyes blinking open slowly. I raised my head and stared as she sat up, scratching her head, "Oh hey, we're free."

She noticed me sitting next to her and asked, "What happened?"

I smacked her hard on the head, fuming. She yelped in pain, rubbing the bump and glaring at me, "The hell was _that_ for?!"

"You scare me half to death and all you have to say is _'What happened'?!_ You could've _died,_ Lori!" I screamed, tears streaming down my face.

She stared at me as I wiped them away furiously, "(I-I thought I lost you, ya big idiot…)"

I heard her sigh as I continued wiping my eyes. I sniffled, blinking furiously to try and stop the tears from falling. I took deep breaths to calm myself down.

"Sorry…"

I looked at Lori, who was looking away from me towards the fire. I sniffled and nodded, ignoring the pained roar in the distance. I looked with her at the fire, my tears finally drying up. I glanced at the silent ShuShu before looking back at Lori. She stared back at me and we nodded.

In unspoken unison, we moved to sit next to him. She sat on his left and I sat on his right. He made no move to stop us, staring at his crumbling treasure. I scratched his head, tears once again rolling down my face as the embers danced off the last remains of the store. It took a few seconds, but ShuShu finally leaned into my touch.

I leaned against him as Lori joined it, petting his back softly. We sat in peaceful silence, watching the store in front of us crumble in the final flames.

…

Come to think of it, I kinda felt like Edward Elric right now…

I heard a couple gasps from behind me and turned, confused. Nami's eyes were wide as she stared at the remains of the building, covering her mouth in horror. Once the shock wore off, her hands clenched into fists and her head bowed, shadowing her eyes. She mumbled something to herself, but it was too quiet for me to hear over the crackling fire.

I shifted my gaze over to the other person who'd approached the wreckage.

The mayor looked absolutely _heartbroken. _His spear fell from his hand in his shock, his jaw dropped and eyes wide. He glanced over at us, tears welling up in his eyes. He looked from Lori to me and finally to ShuShu, his gaze falling with each transition. He took off his old glasses and wiped his eyes, trying to bite back the sobs.

More tears welled in my eyes and I almost got up to comfort him, but Lori grabbed my hand, shaking her head.

"Wow, it's all gone!"

We all turned to the voice to see a smiling Luffy, who had a few scratches on his hands. He started walking over to us, unaware of the fuming Nami. He passed her and the mayor without as much as a glance.

She finally snapped, "You filthy _pirate!_"

She turned to him and whipped out her Bo staff in one movement, tears welling in her eyes.

The mayor grabbed her before she could attack, crying out, "Don't!"

Nami ignored him, struggling in his grip and continuing on her rant, "You pirates are all the same! Destroying innocent lives and taking all the wealth!"

Luffy continued approaching ShuShu with the same smile, mumbling, "You don't have the power to stop me."

I winced. Not the right words to use, Luffy…

Nami screeched, fighting against the grip of the mayor, "I haven't even _started_ yet! Just you _wait!_"

The mayor struggled to keep her back, "Stop it!"

Before Nami could get even angrier, Luffy set a box of dog food in front of the stoic ShuShu. The box was ripped and almost falling apart, but the food stayed inside, rattling lightly from the movement. Nami froze at the sight, as did the mayor. I smiled, moving aside so Luffy could sit next to him. Luffy nodded to me before sitting next to ShuShu, crossing his legs as he placed his hands on his knees.

"This was all I could bring back," He said, rubbing the back of his head, "He'd already eaten everything else by the time I got there…"

ShuShu continued staring at the embers silently as Luffy continued on, "You fought really bravely, ShuShu! Although I didn't get to see it, I can just tell!"

Proud tears welled up in my eyes as ShuShu moved, picking up the box. I smiled, watching him walk off with the box hanging from his mouth. Nami and the mayor stared in shock, only moving aside when ShuShu moved to pass them.

ShuShu had reached the entrance of an alley when he paused, turning to look back at Luffy. He let out a bark, the box falling to the ground.

Luffy laughed, as if he could understand him, "You do your best, too!"

ShuShu let out a few more barks before picking up the box and leaving. Silence enveloped the area as we all stared at the spot ShuShu once was. I smiled as Nami shook off the mayor, calm once again. She looked at Luffy, who stared back at her.

She rubbed the back of her neck with a sheepish smile, "Sorry about before… For thinking you were bad…"

He smiled up at her, getting up from his spot, "No problem. You have your reasons."

She smiled at him, readying a response when he cut in, "I don't wanna hear them though."

She glared at him and I laughed, getting up from my spot. Lori smirked and got up from her spot too, dusting her pants off.

A loud yell startled us all.

We looked over to see the frustrated mayor announce, "I'm so useless! Both ShuShu and the brat fought so hard… But I, the mayor, can't do anything to save this town!"

Luffy and Nami moved in front of him, hands raised worriedly, "Mayor, calm down!"

"Forty years ago, this place was just a field! All of us worked together to build these houses and shops! That's how this town was born…" He revealed, clenching his fists in frustration, "Whether it's the citizens or another part of the town, they're _all_ treasures to me! I can't let them do whatever they want to this town!"

Lori snorted, crossing her arms and shaking her head, "God, don't be such a Hamlet…" I snickered, elbowing her in the side as the others glanced at us in confusion.

Our sentimental moment was ruined by a familiar '**_BOOM!_**'

We all ducked and covered our heads as the town lit up once again. When everything had settled, we noticed that the Buggy Ball had destroyed the houses not even ten feet from us. I paled, falling back in shock as the mayor dropped to his knees.

"E-Even my house…" He sobbed, tears welling up in his eyes.

Luffy let out a panicked yell, looking to the rubble of one of the houses, "Zoro was sleeping in that house!"

"What?!" I exclaimed, looking at the ruins of the house as well. I ran over, passing the mayor as he wondered aloud, "Is he dead…?" I rushed into the rubble without hesitation, pushing aside larger pieces to look for our resident marimo.

"Zoro! Are you alive?" Luffy called, not bothering to come and help me. I took a deep breath and moved a particularly heavy beam aside, sighing in relief from the movement below it.

"What an awful way to wake someone up…" Zoro grumbled, sitting up from under the rubble.

I knelt down and helped move some of the debris off of him, "Are you alright?" He glanced at me and nodded, accepting the helping hand I extended to him. I pulled him up with a grunt, helping him dust off some of the rubble still left on his body.

"Thank goodness you're still alive!" Luffy said, jogging over to us.

Lori followed him, watching as Zoro rubbed the back of his neck, "I still wanted sleep some more…"

I laughed and shook my head as Lori rolled her eyes, "He's fine."

Luffy laughed with me, clapping a hand on Zoro's back. Zoro grunted in pain, glaring at his captain.

An enraged yell interrupted our bonding moment, startling us all again. We looked over to the enraged mayor, tears welling in his eyes.

"Something like this is _unforgiveable_! I can't take it anymore!" He announced, picking up his spear, "They have _no_ right to destroy our forty years of hard work! I'm the mayor of this town, so I'll stand and protect it!"

I smiled, crossing my arms as Nami tried to calm him down. Zoro smirked and Lori rolled her eyes. The mayor turned to Luffy and yelled, "As a man, I have to fight to the death! Isn't that right, brat?!"

Luffy laughed, crossing his arms, "That's right!"

"Don't encourage him!" Nami snapped, glaring at Luffy.

He laughed again, unabashed. She turned back to the mayor, pleading with him, "What can you _possibly_ do against that guy? It's reckless!"

"I _know_ it's reckless!" The mayor said, yanking his arm out of her hands. He turned his back to us, a few tears falling off his cheeks as he yelled, "Just you wait, Buggy!" Before Nami could stop him, he took off running, letting out a war cry with his spear raised.

Lori's eyes widened and she reached for him, calling, "Wait, I was being serious! Don't be Hamlet, he _dies!_"

The mayor either ignored her or didn't hear her because pressed on anyway, turning down another street and disappearing from sight.

We stared after him for a bit before Nami mumbled, "The mayor was crying…"

"Really? I didn't see anything," Luffy said, tilting his head to shadow his eyes. Zoro nodded in agreement and my smile grew wider. Lori sighed, shaking her head and crossing her arms. Zoro glanced at Luffy, smirking, "Seems like it's getting crowded."

Luffy laughed, nodding in agreement. Nami glared at him, "This is _no_ time to laugh!"

"Well, it's a better time than any," I retorted, going over to my fallen hat. She glared at me as I dusted it off. I ignored her and checked it for rips before slapping it on my head. I finally turned back to Luffy, planting my hands on my hips as I asked, "What now, captain?"

He turned to Nami with a grin, "Don't worry! I won't let the old man die!" She looked skeptical, glancing between us all with a frown.

Zoro sighed and stepped forward, ruffling his hair, "If you say so, captain…"

She turned to him, eyes wide in shock, "You're going, too? With that wound?"

Zoro snorted and tugged his bandana off his arm, tying it on his head, "An injury like this hurts my name more than it hurts me." She didn't look convinced, but Luffy cut her off before she could protest, "We're going to the Grand Line after get that map back from those pirates!"

He turned to her with his signature grin and his hand extended, "Come with us, Nami!"

She snorted, crossing her arms, "I _won't_ become your comrade." Luffy's expression fell a bit until she slapped her hand against his. He beamed at her, excited as she continued, "But I'll help you guys. For the sake of _both_ of our goals."

I snickered, "(She's such a tsundere~)" Lori rolled her eyes as Luffy cheered, throwing his hands up in the air. I smiled at the interaction as Lori sighed and mumbled, "She has _no idea_ what she's in for…" I nodded in agreement, holding back more laughter.

Luffy turned to the street the mayor went, his face growing serious. We all lined up next to him, serious looks dawning on our face.

Lori tied up her hair in a ponytail, flexing her hands so her claws snapped out.

I adjusted my hat so the brim shadowed my eyes, pulling out my bow.

Luffy punched a fist in his hand and smirked.

Zoro tightened his bandana with a grunt, drawing Wado Ichimonji.

Nami twirled her staff, stamping it into the ground next to her.

Luffy took a step forward and we all followed him as he yelled, "Let's go kick some ass!"

_Ending Theme: Demons by Imagine Dragons_

* * *

**_(No songs this time!)_**

* * *

_GUYS_

_GUYS_

_THE NEW SUPER SMASH AND POKEMON CAME OUT TODAY_

_I'M SO DAMN EXCITED_

_IMMA GO PLAY_

_GOODBYE, SOCIAL LIFE_

_Love you all~_

_Haruhi_


	10. Chapter 9: The Opening Act

_Happy belated Thanksgiving to all those who celebrated! I hope you enjoyed your day off and stuffed your face 'til you were bursting!_

_So because of my addiction to the new Pokémon game, I barely managed to finish this chapter in time. But luckily, I pulled through. Thank goodness for that, or that would've been awkward to explain._

_Man, I'm _so_ into the Smash and Pokémon~! They're so awesome~! If you guys liked any of the previous games in those series, I highly recommend getting these too!_

_That is, if you have the money, lol_

_Thanks to missmoemoe96, WateRipplE, OnePieceDoesExist, nafara and FlamingCatDemon13 for adding this story to their favs~_

_Another thanks to missmoemoe96, OnePieceDoesExist, virkelighetflukt, blue star321 and FlamingCatDemon13 for adding this story to their alerts~_

_Special thanks to OnePieceDoesExist for adding me to their favorites~!_

_Alrighty, let's begin, shall we?_

* * *

**_QuirkyFox:_**_ Uh… *playing Smash as I read the review* XD A little late for that suggestion~ And thanks for the continued support!_

**_Mittensx7768:_**_ The Smash game is **epic**. Get it once ya get the chance! And which version did you get? I got Omega Ruby, and Lori got Alpha Sapphire. We always do this so we can get the Pokémon specific to each game. :3 L: I could care _less_ about finishing the dex, Kel._I _care, so shut up._

**_FlamingCatDemon13: _**_Thanks! Here's the new chapter!_

* * *

**_Disclaimer: Still not Oda. Still don't own. I also don't own Lori, any references we make, and a lot of other things. I only own myself and this idea._**

* * *

_Intro Theme: Fight Together by Namie Amuro_

As we walked down the street side by side, I took the time to look around. With a lot of the houses missing, the village looked more barren and destroyed than it had before, if that was possible. We had to step around pieces of debris that had fallen off the crumbling houses and into the streets. I sighed, turning my attention back to the path in front of me. While I wished we could help rebuild the town, we couldn't. Not if everything followed the plot as it had been.

"I warned him not to be Hamlet, and this is what he does?" Lori grumbled, retracting her claws. I stared at her and she turned to me. She frowned at my look, "What?"

"Who's Hamlet again?"

She face-faulted. My face flushed with embarrassment as everyone turned to stare at us. She got up, letting out an exhausted sigh, "You _cannot_ be serious."

"Hey, I remember he's from Shakespeare!" I defended, still embarrassed beyond belief, "But Shakespeare wrote a lotta stuff, so it's hard to keep track!"

Lori shook her head, walking down the street with me once again, "I understand why you wouldn't remember, though. Shakespeare wrote thirty-eight plays and one hundred and fifty-four sonnets during his life."

She glanced at me, noticing my vacant expression, "Let's jog your memory, shall we?"

I waited as she began to recite some of the lines, "'To be or not to be? _That_ is the question. Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of…'" She trailed off when she noticed my vacant expression hadn't changed.

She sighed, shaking her head again, "Never mind then. Lemme try it this way: Hamlet was the main character in the play 'Hamlet'. Basically, the reason I called him Hamlet is because Hamlet's a big baby who wanted to kill someone, but never had the balls to do anything about it."

Lori didn't notice I slowed down my pace and continued on her rant, "And all he did was complain about not getting anything done. When he finally takes action, he manages to intentionally kill three people and unintentionally kill five others."

I had stopped by this point and she was _still_ going, "The last death he caused was his own. However, two of the deaths are debatable whether or not they were intentional or not…"

She _finally_ noticed I'd stopped and turned to look back at me, confused, "Why'd you stop?"

I snapped out of my trance, "Jesus, I just asked who the dude was, not his life's story!"

Lori rolled her eyes as I jogged over to her, "Well, I thought you'd be interested to know. Won't make _that_ mistake again."

"How do you even _know_ all of that?!"

"I paid attention in school, unlike you."

"Hey, I paid attention!"

"Sure. That's why you were failing classes."

I glared at her as the others joined us, "Not cool."

"Never said I was."

We turned to the others, only to just notice their confused expressions. I frowned, "What?"

Luffy tilted his head, "Why're you guys talking about a ham omelet?"

I snorted loudly before laughing my ass off. Lori sighed and looked at Luffy as I choked on laughter, "If I can't even explain it to _this_ idiot, there is no way in _hell_ I'm explaining it to you."

Luffy pouted and a few more giggles escaped my lips. I wiped my eyes, snickering softly. Zoro and Nami looked about as confused as Luffy, which nearly sent me into another round of giggles. Lori noticed their confused expressions and rolled her eyes, "Hamlet was a character in a play."

"I've never heard of him," Nami said, crossing her arms and frowning. Lori stared back, unfazed, "It's not a well-known play here."

Nami didn't seem to buy the explanation and glared at her suspiciously.

Zoro looked as though he could care less, considering he was walking down the street instead of listening.

Luffy had the best reaction out of them all.

"Let's go get the ham omelet!" He declared, running down the street after Zoro. I started laughing again, nearly falling over as I clutched my aching stomach. Lori sighed and face-palmed, grumbling, "There's no getting through to that boy…"

I snickered and followed after him, punching a hand in the air and yelling, "For the ham omelet~!"

"You're _not_ helping!" Lori snapped, glaring after me. I cackled and caught up to Luffy, giddy from my laughter. Luffy laughed with me as we caught up to Zoro, slowing our pace to match his. Zoro didn't bother glancing at us, keeping his gaze fixed ahead.

I hummed, nearly skipping as I walked with my two idols. It felt so unbelievable; I was walking with none other than _the_ 'Pirate-Hunter' Roronoa Zoro and 'Straw Hat' Monkey D. Luffy. And said people wanted me on their _crew_. Well, at least _one_ of them wanted me on the crew. It was too good to be true. Just to make sure this wasn't actually one of my psychotic dreams, I pinched my cheek with my nails. Just to be extra sure, I nearly broke the skin. I winced and looked around.

Nothing had changed

"What're you doing?" Luffy asked, watching me pinch myself.

I beamed at him, still holding my cheek in my fingers, "Nothing at all~" He stared at me as I let go of my reddening cheek. I rubbed the spot where I'd pinched harder, barely holding back squeals of excitement.

He laughed, drawing my attention, "You're so weird!"

I snorted, "Like _you're_ one to talk."

He laughed, not denying my observation. I glanced over my shoulder and saw Nami and Lori chatting quietly with one another, not bothering to catch up to us. I turned back and continued walking with the boys. I slid my bow back into its holster, unsure of why I'd pulled it out in the first place. It seemed cool at the time, but the effort was for nothing.

I was just about to let go of it when I faintly heard a familiar cackle up ahead. I pulled out my bow again and squinted my eyes, but I couldn't see anything from this distance.

Zoro tensed when he saw me draw my bow again, "What?"

I didn't look at him as I responded, "I heard Buggy up ahead."

Luffy took off running, his face set in determination. I pulled out an arrow as he ran forward, nocking it on the string and drawing it back. I took slow, deep breaths to steady my heartbeat as best I could. I tried to find my target, but again, I couldn't see anything from this distance. When nothing appeared, I took another slow deep breath. While I wanted to get closer to see them, I couldn't risk being seen in return. Not if I wanted the arrow to connect.

I let out a sigh and shook my head, mumbling, "Guess I don't have a choice…"

I closed my eyes, focusing on changing only them. I had only done this a couple of times before, so I hoped everything went according to plan. I felt the familiar tingling sensation behind my eyelids. I snapped them open, my eyes shifted to those of a gyrfalcons. I focused on Buggy, his shape quickly coming into focus. I aimed the arrow for his head, already feeling the strain of only changing my eyes. Thankfully, Buggy's attention was focused on Luffy, who'd separated his hand from the mayor. His eyes narrowed in annoyance as I took another deep breath.

Everything started fading away as I steadied my hand.

_Breathe in._

Sounds turned to silence.

_Breathe out._

My surroundings faded to black.

_Breathe in._

I let the arrow fly.

I watched in anticipation as it flew down the street at high speeds, cutting through the air with ease. My eyes watered and finally changed back to normal, blurring my vision from seeing anything else. I rubbed them with a pained groan, blinking a couple of times to try and clear them.

I should've known. This had happened every time I'd tried it before, so why would it suddenly change now?

Finally, my eyes stopped watering. I wiped the remaining tears away and the blurry shapes sharpened into details once again. I ran after my arrow, ignoring the surprised look from Zoro. I heard his footsteps follow me as I ran as fast as I could.

My heart dropped when I found my arrow split down the shaft, the two parts imbedded in the ground behind Buggy. Buggy was staring at the pieces in shock, only just aware of my attempt on his life. A man on a unicycle stood protectively in front of the surprised clown, a sword clenched in his hand. He glared at me and I glared back, reaching to grab another arrow.

"That is pointless," He announced, "You cannot hit me with those pathetic things."

My hand flinched in response and I glowered at the guy. He smirked at me, shifting his feet so the unicycle stayed upright. I clenched my hand before reluctantly letting it drop, my glare growing colder. His smirk grew and he sheathed his sword.

"Although, I'm impressed you made the shot from that distance," He commented, eyeing me closely.

While I was just as surprised as he was, I wanted to look as badass as possible. So I rolled my eyes, pretending to be a bit annoyed. I ignored him as he continued on his rant, looking over at Luffy and the mayor. The mayor was now unconscious, slumped against a nearby building.

Luffy grinned at me as I sighed and shook my head, "Was it _really_ necessary to knock him out?"

"Yeah."

Lori and Nami finally caught up to us as I sighed again, "If you say so…"

Nami shrieked in surprise when she saw the mayor, paling a bit.

"What're you doing?!" She yelled, glaring at the apathetic Luffy, "Why'd you do that to the mayor?!"

"He was in the way," Luffy responded, turning away from her. She gaped at his back as Zoro nodded in agreement, "Good idea. If the old man fights, he'll get himself killed. It's better this way."

"Don't be so rash!" Nami scolded, turning her glare onto him, "There are other ways of handling it!"

Zoro rolled his eyes and I looked at Lori, who was staring down at the mayor. She snorted to herself, shaking her head lightly. I frowned and tilted my head, confused. She noticed my expression and gestured to the mayor, "Told you Hamlet dies."

I laughed, shaking my head and shoving her, "You dork." Lori's response was cut off as Luffy let out a loud yell.

"_BIG NOSE!_"

I winced and covered my ringing ears. Lori turned to look at our captain, a bit annoyed. I glanced at him too, smirking when I noticed Buggy's annoyed expression.

"You _dare_ call me that?!" He screeched, sounding like an offended chicken. He turned and yelled back to his crew, "Fire the Buggy Bomb! _Now!_"

Nami paled as the cannon was turned towards us. She screamed and started running, trying to get as far away as possible. Zoro glared at our captain and crossed his arms, standing behind him instead of running away like he should've been.

I glanced at Lori, feeling calmer than I should have, "Think we should run?"

She shook her head, just as calm as I was, "Nah. If everything pans out, we should be fine."

"What are you _doing?!_" Nami screamed, gaining our attention. Her eyes were wide with fear and confusion, probably wondering if we were mental. She gestured for us to follow her as she continued, "You'll be _killed_ if you stay there!"

I smiled at her, waving lightly in response. I ignored her attempts to get me to run and turned to stare at Luffy's back. I heard Nami curse and continue running. Luffy smirked, tilting his head a bit so his hat shadowed his eyes. He spoke so lowly I almost didn't hear him.

"That won't work on me."

A deafening '**_BOOM!_**' shook the air around us and a familiar red sphere flew in our direction. I dug my nails into my arms, resisting every urge I had to turn and run. I stared at my captain as he sucked in a deep breath.

"_Gomu Gomu no…_"

His body inflated just in time; catching the ball in his giant stomach.

"_Fuusen!_"

Everyone stared in shock, pardoning Zoro, Lori and I. I smirked as Luffy turned, still holding the cannon ball in his stomach folds. He flexed his stomach, sending the cannon ball back to its owner. Buggy's eyes widened as it exploded right in front of him, obliterating his crew and hideout.

I cheered loudly and Lori smirked. Zoro glared at Luffy from his place on the ground. He'd dove out of the way to avoid the blast, but obviously that hadn't been necessary.

Luffy let out his breath and he shrunk back down to his normal size. He laughed; placing a hand on his hat to make sure it was in place.

"Alright!" He cheered, smiling at the destruction in front of him, "It got them!"

Nami, who didn't get that far from running, stared at Luffy in frightened shock. Her expression was almost a perfect replica of when she'd seen me change for the first time.

"What the hell _are_ you?!" She yelled. Luffy turned to face her, smiling as though he didn't have a care in the world. She shook her head and glared at him, mustering up as much courage as she could, "Ever since you fought that lion, I figured there was something strange about you…"

Zoro glared at her, annoyed. But she continued on, pointing at him accusingly, "But that's _not_ something a human can do! What _was_ that?!"

Luffy beamed, showing his teeth, "It's the rubber balloon!"

I laughed at his response, but Nami got pissed, "I'm asking what the hell that was, not its name! Are you some kind of monster?!"

"Hey, that's quite rude," I commented, drawing her attention to me, "Are you calling me a monster too?"

She seemed taken aback, looking at nervously, "W-Well…"

"And what about me?" Lori asked, crossing her arms.

Nami looked at her confused, "What?"

Oh yeah. They didn't know Lori ate a Devil's Fruit.

Lori rolled her eyes, "I'd watch what you say. There might be more Users than you think, and not all of them are as forgiving."

Nami paled at that, trembling a bit, "W-What do you mean by that…?"

Lori stayed silent, looking at the debris.

"How _dare_ you do that to us!"

We turned and saw Buggy tossing one of his charred crew members aside, fuming in anger. I stared at him, growing annoyed. This man just wouldn't quit, would he? Everyone turned their attention to him as he crawled out of the rubble.

Nami glanced at the unconscious man by Buggy's feet, "He used his underlings as a shield, huh…?"

I shook my head, "That's low. Even by _his_ standards."

Nami gave me a confused frown as Mohji pushed his way out of the rubble, his hair covered in dust. He coughed lightly, waving away some of the dust. He noticed Luffy and screamed, pointing at him, "Ah! It's you!"

Luffy smiled back and raised a hand to wave, "Yo!"

T-The guy with the straw hat!" Mohji panicked, scrambling out of the rubble and ignoring the greeting. He ran over to Buggy, who was staring at him in confusion as he stuttered, "C-Captain Buggy, be careful! This man also has the power of a Devil's Fruit! He's a rubber man!"

"What are we, chopped liver?" I grumbled, pouting and crossing my arms. Lori ignored my statement, staring at the scene blankly. Zoro glanced at me curiously, a question on the tip of his tongue. But before he could ask anything, another figure shifted from in the rubble.

"This is our greatest humiliation ever, captain."

We turned to see an unconscious Ritchie being held up with one hand, his fur singed and coated in dust. He whimpered in pain and I felt a spark of sympathy for him. He looked kinda pitiful, being held up so easily.

But then I remembered what he'd done to ShuShu.

After that, I kinda wanted to laugh at him.

"Oh, Cabaji," Buggy growled, a bit more relaxed with this turn of events, "I can't suppress my anger anymore."

The lion was tossed aside to reveal the man who'd cut my arrow. Somehow, he was still on his unicycle. I thought that was such bullshit. I couldn't even walk on a railing without a _breeze_ knocking me over, how the hell had he managed to stay upright through that blast?

"Ritchie!" Mohji called, rushing over to his wounded pet. He checked him over worriedly, "Hey, Ritchie, hang in there! Are you alright?!"

"Does he _look_ alright?" I mumbled, rolling my eyes, "The cat just took a bomb to the face, of _course_ he's not alright."

Ritchie regained some of his consciousness, looking at his owner wearily. He noticed Cabaji staring at him and yelped, cowering behind Mohji. Mohji looked back at him in shock, surprised that the powerful animal was reduced to a quivering mess, "Ritchie…"

He turned his glare onto Cabaji, who couldn't have cared less. Mohji got up, fuming as he threw a punch at him, "You dirty _bastard!_"

Cabaji lifted his foot from the pedal and kicked him hard. I didn't have time to react before Mohji sprawled in front of us, his nose bleeding form the blow. I stared down at him as he staggered up, wiping his nose with the back of his hand. He charged forward, pushing Nami aside and ordering, "Get out of the way!"

Nami shrieked and almost fell back, staggering a bit to catch herself, "H-Hey!"

"You…" Luffy mumbled, drawing my attention. Mohji turned his glare to him and Luffy glared back.

"Move!"

Luffy kicked him square in the jaw, causing his teeth to smash together painfully.

I winced when I saw a couple of his teeth chip and break. Mohji was sent flying back into a nearby building, breaking though the wall with pained ease. I looked back at Luffy, who lowered his leg back to the ground. He turned and stared Buggy down, his hat shadowing his eyes again. I heard mumbling and looked over as well. Buggy cackled as Cabaji wheeled himself forward.

"Alright!" Buggy exclaimed, watching as Cabaji drew his sword, "Show them your acrobatics!"

Cabaji nodded, crouching down on his unicycle and staring us down. I frowned as he sprung forward, pedaling as fast as he could.

"I am the chief of staff; Cabaji the Acrobat!" He announced, pointing his sword at Luffy as he continued rushing forward, "Captain Buggy's rage has been transferred to me! I will kill you in his place!"

I tensed and was about to interfere when Zoro jumped in, blocking the sword with his own. I relaxed and sighed in relief, glancing at Luffy. I almost started laughing at the dumbfounded expression on his face. I shook my head with a grin, looking back at the interlocked swordsman.

Zoro glared at Cabaji, keeping him back with only one hand.

"Since you're using a sword… _I'll_ be your opponent!"

_Ending Theme: Demons by Imagine Dragons_

* * *

_Now to return to my drug- I mean game. Game is what I meant to say. *laughs nervously*_

_I hope you all enjoyed~! See you next week~!_

_Love you all~_

_Haruhi_


	11. Chapter 10: All Bark, No Bite

_Oh man, guys._

_I'm _SO SORRY_ this chapter took so long to write. I really don't have any excuses._

_But with this passing time, I can only hope that my writing style has improved. I'm now enrolled in an advanced creative writing course, so here's hoping that pays off!_

_With the current arrangement, I went back to reread the chapters and have decided to go back (yet again) and edit them. I'm probably going to make a habit out of this (as my writing style goes through dramatic changes), so I'll try to keep you guys posted with the changes! From the looks of things, I might end up doing a clean-up every ten chapters or so._

_And since this is chapter ten, throughout the week, I'll be making minor edits and changes to the chapters. I won't alert you guys like last time (cause that was a bit annoying), but if I make any major changes, I'll make sure to let you all know!_

_I'll try not to mess with the chapters any more than these clean-ups, and I know this might be annoying, but I can't help myself. I always think there's room to improve, and going back to read the previous chapters, there was a _lot _to be improved._

_Again, thank you _all_ for the support and praise for all this time! I cannot express how much this means to me!_

**_Happy Birthday to Chibi Spitfire! I hope you have a good one, babe! :)_**

_Thanks to Gameprince33,  2, StarHobbit, TheBloodyMadQueen, Magic126, Gift Rose11, BlueFightingPanda, Rinnie-chama, WhiteLily.R and TheSuperMario for adding this story to their favs~_

_More thanks to Gameprince33, Gene1917,  2, StarHobbit, Life Dealer, TheBloodyMadQueen, Tsukino Aisuru – A, Magic126, Gift Rose11, Dark Conspiracy, BlueFightingPanda, nafara and lucasxdgamersx for adding this story to their alerts~_

_Special thanks to Gameprince33 for adding me to their favs~_

_SUPER SPECIAL THANKS TO scarlett key FOR ADDING ME AND THIS STORY TO THEIR ALERTS AND FAVS!_

* * *

**_QuirkyKit: _**_Lol, you keep changing your name and I keep forgetting it's you. XD Thanks!_

**_FlyingCatDemon13: _**_Thanks! It means a lot that you like it this much! :)_

**_scarlett key: _**_Thanks for the praise and support! It really means a lot to me! :D_

* * *

**_Disclaimer: I can dream I own it, right? I mean, I think all of us have secretly (or not so secretly) thought about what it was like to own One Piece. I also don't own the references and Lori. I only own little ol' me and this idea I came up with as a joke that (shockingly) got this far._**

* * *

_Intro Theme: Fight Together by Namie Amuro_

Everyone watched as the two swordsmen stared each other down, both refusing to back down. Zoro suddenly tensed and pushed Cabaji back, sending him skidding back a couple feet. As they both prepared to fight, I felt an excited shiver run down my spine and barely held back a loud squeal.

I get to watch one of Zoro's fights! In _person!_

I moved out of their way and looked for a good place to sit and watch the action. I found a couple barrels resting against a nearby house and hopped on them, sitting back against the wooden panels of the house. Lori noticed me and frowned, "What're you doing?"

"Getting a good seat for the show!" I responded, crossing my legs on the barrels with an excited grin stretched across my face. She shook her head and leaned against the building next to my seat. I smiled at her before turning my attention back to the fighters, unable to hear the conversation between Zoro and Luffy.

"_Acrobatic Special: Old Man's Flame!_"

I watched as Cabaji took a deep breath and breathed out fire, the flames licking Zoro's face. Zoro leaned back with a wince, avoiding the brunt of the fire. Cabaji took the opportunity to kick Zoro right where he'd been stabbed. Zoro cried out in pain, his legs giving out as he clutched his bleeding wound. I winced, watching him shake from the pain.

"What's wrong?" Cabaji goaded, earning a glare from me, "I didn't hit you _that_ hard."

Zoro didn't respond, taking deep breaths and trying to ignore the pain.

I grit my teeth and held myself back. I knew he'd get pissed if I tried to help him, and it wasn't like I could do all that much anyway. My first aid wasn't that good to begin with, and I'd never treated a stab wound before.

"_Acrobatic Special: Murder Under a Cloud of Smoke!_"

Cabaji twirled his sword until dust was swirling around them, obscuring them from sight. I waited, tensing when I heard Zoro scream again from within the small cloud. Zoro tumbled out of the cloud, clutching his wound tightly. His face was getting paler by the second, and I was struggling to hold myself back. If things got any worse, he'd pass out form the blood loss again.

"Have you realized it yet?" Cabaji called, watching Zoro draw himself up shakily, "It's foolish to go against the Buggy crew!"

Nami, who had been stewing in anger, whirled on Luffy with a nasty glare, "What're you _doing?!_ He's going to be killed!"

Luffy ignored her, staring at Zoro instead. Zoro's head was lowered, his bandana shadowing his eyes from the brutal sunlight. I glanced at Luffy and saw his internal struggle. He was gripping his arms so tight his knuckles were turning white.

He wanted to help, but Zoro said this was _his_ fight. We had to respect that.

I grit my teeth and leaned back against the building, turning my attention back to the fight reluctantly.

"Is hitting my wound…" Zoro mumbled, trailing off a bit.

He raised his head, showing his pissed glare as he continued, "…_That_ much fun?!"

Cabaji flinched a bit at how ferociously he said that. I smirked, relaxing a bit in relief. He stood up, the veins in his neck pulsing from how tightly he was clenching his teeth. Cabaji recovered from his scare and glared at him, pedaling forward quickly. He raised his sword and stabbed Zoro in the same place he'd been stabbed before. He smirked, thinking he'd won.

Except this time, Zoro didn't even flinch.

Cabaji's eyes widened in shock. Zoro turned to face him, not even bothering to cover his gushing wound, "Are you satisfied now? I'm ready to show you the difference between you and me!"

I squealed in excitement, laughing as I punched a hand in the air, "Go, you stubborn marimo~!"

Luffy's eyes widened a bit, "Whoa~! Cool~!"

"What a stubborn idiot," Lori mumbled. I snickered at that, watching in excitement as Zoro drew his three swords.

"_This _is the real Roronoa Zoro," Cabaji said, watching Zoro clench Wado Ichimonji between his teeth, "I underestimated you."

"You got that right!" I called.

Lori face-palmed, letting out a heavy sigh, "Haru, you're _not_ helping."

"So what? He needs to know I support him!"

"No he doesn't."

I glared at her, but she ignored me in favor of watching the fight. I crossed my arms and huffed in anger, turning back to the fight myself. Zoro had straightened himself up, holding his other two unnamed swords tightly in his hands. He glared Cabaji down, as if the pain from his wound was nonexistent.

"My goal is to become the world's greatest swordsman!" He announced, his eyes glowing with pride as he continued, "I can't be defeated in a fight! Not even once!"

Cabaji snorted, readying his sword, "I see. You want to show me your strong will. You can't beat me with just that."

I glared at him as he smirked, "Don't worry. It can be your excuse for why you lost."

"Don't screw with me!" Zoro snapped, startling Cabaji. The marimo glowered at him, "If I can't defeat you even with a wound like this… I can't imagine what future I would have!"

Luffy cheered, ignoring the tension in the air, "Go, Zoro~!"

"Yeah, you got it, you crazy bastard~!" I added on, beaming happily.

"Haru. _Shut. Up._"

"You can't make me!"

Lori glared at me, but this time, I ignored her. I heard her huff and smirked victoriously. I was watching the two swordsmen until I noticed Nami leaving out of the corner of my eye. I frowned as she ducked behind a building and vanished from sight.

"Now it's time for my best acrobatic special!" Cabaji announced, drawing my attention back to him. He smirked and held up his hand to reveal spinning tops.

I rolled my eyes and cupped my hands around my mouth, calling, "Y'know, it's not really 'acrobatics' if you're on the ground!"

If looks could kill, he would've obliterated me on the spot. Luffy was laughing in the background, but I didn't dare to look away. I smirked back at him, daring him to challenge my logic. Finally, Cabaji turned his glare off of me, his cheeks reddening a bit. I puffed my chest out in victory, tipping my head back a bit with a bigger smile.

It's sad to think that that's one of the only times I've won an argument.

And it wasn't even a real one.

"_Acrobatic Special: Hundred Spinning Tops Whirlwind Attack!_"

Cabaji threw the tops at Zoro, the tops spinning even faster. Zoro glared at them and tensed, changing his stance for defense. He swung his swords at the tops, easily slicing them all through the center. Cabaji took advantage of the distraction to start pedaling up the side of the houses.

"_Acrobatic Special: Climbing the Mountain!_"

"What the hell, how is he _doing_ that?!" I yelled, pointing at the man with wide eyes. I turned to Lori for an explanation, "That defies the laws of physics, doesn't it?!"

"Haru, this is _One Piece_," Lori commented, watching the fight with a blank expression, "Nothing is impossible here."

I hesitated before shrugging in agreement and settling back into my seat.

Zoro finished cutting through all the tops and turned his attention to Cabaji, who'd wheeled himself so he was hovering over Zoro. He crouched and sprung up; bouncing in the air so high the sun shadowed his body from sight.

"_Acrobatic Special: Rising Fireworks!_"

I squinted, covering my eyes with a hand to try and block some of the light. It was blindingly bright, and it was annoying how long it was taking Cabaji to come down.

Luffy let out a yell of awe, covering his eyes as well, "Whoa, that's so _high!_"

"_Single Flower Vase!_"

"What were you guys _smoking _when you named these attacks?!" I questioned, throwing my hands up in exasperation. Lori snorted, nodding in agreement. Cabaji started falling down, and I could now see his sword pointed straight down, falling towards Zoro at increasing speeds. Zoro crouched and got ready to dodge when Buggy yelled out an attack of his own.

"_Crawling Bara Bara Cannon!_"

Buggy launched his hand at Zoro, who wasn't excepting the ambush at all. The hand latched onto his leg, throwing him off balance. Zoro's eyes widened and he looked down at his feet, where the unattached hand gripped his leg tightly.

"I'll hold him down!" Buggy called, "Finish him!"

Cabaji smirked, "As you wish!"

I tensed as Cabaji continued to fall, his sword pointed right for Zoro's head.

Zoro glared, raising his swords in an attempt to defend himself, "You bastards…!"

Before I could get up to help, Luffy sprang forward, his hat shadowing his eyes. He stomped on Buggy's hand as hard as he could. Buggy screamed out in pain, clutching the arm with the missing hand and releasing his grip on the swordsman, "That_ hurts!_"

Zoro, now free from Buggy's clutches, jumped to the side. Cabaji stabbed his sword into the ground instead, narrowly missing his target. Cabaji glared at Luffy, angry that he'd missed his chance. Zoro turned to his captain in surprise, "Luffy!"

Buggy glowered at the boy, "You…!"

Luffy stepped down harder on the hand, eliciting another yelp from the clown captain.

"This is _Zoro's_ fight," Luffy stated, tilting his head back a bit so Buggy could see his furious expression, "Don't interfere!" Buggy glowered back at him, absolutely furious. I cheered loudly, punching a hand in the air, "You go, captain~!"

They all ignored me as Cabaji pulled his sword out of the ground, pointing it at the green haired swordsman.

"I don't need the captain's help to defeat you!" He declared, charging forward.

Zoro finally snapped out of his shocked state and let out a heavy sigh.

He brought up his swords again, "I'm tired of this."

I nearly squealed in excitement as I watched Zoro shift to a familiar stance. Cabaji, oblivious to Zoro's stance, let out a hearty laugh and continued on, "You've finally given up? I'm amazed you've fought with that wound for so long!"

"I'm saying I'm tired of your useless acrobatic specials!"

I laughed at Cabaji's offended expression, nearly falling off my impromptu seat in the process. Cabaji glared back at Zoro and pedaled even faster, "Then I'll take you down with my True Sword Technique!"

Zoro crouched lower, readying his attack as Cabaji yelled out, "Die!"

"_Oni…_"

Zoro lunged forward, a psychotic glint in his eye.

"_…giri!_"

I watched in amazement as the two swordsmen clashed in a flurry of sparks, passing each other and stopping after a few steps.

My eyes darted between the two men, anxiously waiting for the deciding fall.

A few more seconds passed, and Cabaji finally fell from his unicycle.

It clattered on the ground next to him uselessly as blood seeped from his wounds. He groaned in pain, turning his head away in shame, "The Buggy Crew… Defeated by a nothing more than a couple of thieves…"

I cheered loudly, punching my hands in the air in my excitement. Lori smirked to herself, relaxing a bit. Luffy let a huge grin spread across his face as Zoro sheaths his swords.

"Not thieves…" Zoro grunted, letting his bandana slip off as he fell back on the ground himself.

Cabaji glanced at him in confusion. Zoro smirked to the sky, squinting a bit from the bright light.

"We're _pirates!_"

I laughed shortly, nodding in agreement as his bandana fluttered to the ground next to him. Luffy's grin seemed to grow even wider at those words.

"Luffy, I'm going to sleep," He announced, closing his eyes. Not even bothering to wait for a response, Zoro was asleep within seconds. His loud snores cut through the empty streets as his chest rose and fell with each deep breath. I shook my head, an amused smile on my face, "I gotta remember to ask him how he does that…"

Lori nodded in agreement, eyeing him with envy.

Luffy grinned at his first mate before turning back to the angry clown. He punched his fist into his other hand, his grin growing as he said, "Leave the rest to me!"

I cheered again, cupping my hands around my mouth, "You got it, Luffy!"

Buggy, who'd had enough of our nonsense, was glaring down the rubber boy with the most malicious glare he could create. I could practically see his veins trying to pop out of his neck with how tightly he was clenching his teeth. Buggy closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"You guys are pirates?" He growled out, trying to keep a lid on his temper. Luffy nodded, oblivious to the anger in Buggy's voice, "Yeah! We're heading to the Grand Line!"

"That's not some place you guys can casually go, fools," Buggy scoffed, rolling his eyes, "Even _if _you enter the Grand Line, what are you going to do? Go sight-seeing?"

As if it was the funniest joke he'd ever heard, Buggy started cracking up, letting out a couple ugly snorts. I scrunched my nose, staring at the hysterical man in disgust. Luffy stared at the laughing man, tilting his head a bit in confusion.

"I'm going to become the Pirate King," He declared as if it was the most obvious thing.

Buggy stopped laughing immediately, his head tilting as his face froze in a mix of laughter and exasperation.

Finally, he _snapped_.

"Stop fooling around, you idiot!" He yelled, glaring Luffy down, "_You're _going to become the Pirate King?! Then I'm a _God!_"

I snorted to myself, trying to bite back laughter as I shook my head.

Ah, if only he knew what was to come…

Buggy continued on his rant, his face growing redder with each passing second, "The one who will become Pirate King and own all the treasure in the world is _me!_" Luffy twitched in response, and I watched his shoulders grow tense. Unaware of the growing tension, Buggy continued on, "Stop dreaming! You talk too big for a person so small!"

Luffy, for once, grew serious as he stared Buggy down with an expression I'd never seen on his face. He crouched down and clenched his fist as he drew his left arm back slowly.

"Bring it on," He ordered, his expression unwavering. Buggy glared right back, unfazed. He reached behind himself and pulled more knives from his back pockets, clenching them between his fingers. He shifted his gaze up a bit and his glare grew harder.

"Whenever I look at your straw hat, it reminds me of _that man..._" He growled out, eyeing the hat with distaste, "That despicable, red-headed _bastard!_"

Luffy perked up a bit, his serious façade breaking into surprise, "Redhead? Did you say Redhead? You know Shanks?"

Buggy seemed a bit surprised as well, but he tried to cover it with suspicion, "So what if I do?"

"Where is he now?!" Luffy asked, excitement growing in his eyes. I smiled at the boy's antics, trying to hide my amusement. While it was made pretty obvious in the manga, it was still really heart-warming to see how much Luffy looked up to the idiot of a warlord.

Buggy, however, didn't seem to pick up on this.

Said clown tilted his head, thinking out loud, "Well, to say I know him when I do… But to say I don't know him when I don't…"

…

Okay, even _I _couldn't follow that train of thought.

I stared at Buggy in confusion before turning to Lori, hoping she knew what the hell he was talking about. She looked back at me and shrugged, just as lost as I was. I looked back at the two to see Luffy relax out of his fighting pose with a blank look.

"What are you talking about? Are you an idiot?" He asked.

Buggy glared back at him, "_You're _the idiot!"

"Wow," I commented, blinking in surprise, "That's just as bad as saying 'Your face is stupid!'."

Lori let out a short laugh, but I was too focused on the conversation to respond.

"Like I'd willingly tell you something you need to know!" Buggy snapped, veins pulsing in his forehead, "I'm not that nice of a guy!"

Luffy frowned and raised his fists, "Then I'll beat it out of you!"

I snickered at that, my dirty mind twisting his words. Lori glared at me, "Don't you _dare_."

"I'm resisting~!"

Buggy let out a sinister chuckle, raising his own fists, "You'll be dead before you get to ask." To try and intimidate the boy, he tapped the point of his shoe on the ground. A knife sprung from its hiding place, glinting menacingly in the light.

"Rubber can't bounce back knives," Buggy observed, doing the same to his other shoe. Luffy nodded, "Yep. Not possible."

Lori let out a heavy sigh and face palmed, "Why would you tell him that…?"

I shrugged, "Hey, it's not like Buggy didn't know."

As I watched our rubber captain bounce around to evade the attacks of the separation man, I wondered when I got over seeing fighting in person. Back in our world, I couldn't stomach the sight of watching people beating each other up. I couldn't even watch fight scenes in movies without cringing. I remember when I was in high school, a fight broke out right in front of the class room I had lunch in with my friends. When I saw one of the fighters pull back a fist, I gagged and ran into the back room.

Come to think of it, how does Lori deal with seeing these fights? I mean, as far as I knew, she hadn't seen any _real_ fights. After my class graduated from high school, the only 'fights' I'd ever heard of breaking out were cat fights. So, according to what I'd heard, these would be the first fights she'd ever seen. How was she not freaking out like I had?

Man, why did people have to fight? I can understand _now_, 'cause they're pirates and they have to fight for what they want, but back in our world? The only fights that broke out were because of (to my knowledge) stupid reasons.

"_Haru._"

I snapped out of my inner monologue at the sound of my sister's voice. I looked at her to find an annoyed glare directed at me.

"…What?"

"The fight's over, idiot." She said, "Stop spacing out."

"Wait, what?!"

I looked over to the rubble to see our captain standing alone, staring at us in a mixture of confusion and amusement.

"No way!" I whined, childish tears welling up, "I missed it?!"

"That's what you get for being a space cadet." Lori snorted, shaking her head. I groaned loudly and threw my head back, covering my face in exasperation.

"This _sucks!_"

_Ending Theme: Demons by Imagine Dragons_

* * *

**_(No songs this time!)_**

* * *

_Man, this really brings me back! It feels great to come back to you all!_

_I don't know when I'll be able to get the next update out (what, with school and tests just around the corner), but hopefully I'll get that out soon for you guys!_

_With summer coming up, it looks as though I might be in Minnesota for the majority of it. And with all the spare time I'll have while I'm up there, I'll put myself to work writing this!_

_Thanks again for being so patient and understanding!_

_Love you all~_

_Haruhi_


	12. Chapter 11: Casting Off

_Another very late update…_

_*sigh*_

_But at least it hasn't been six months!_

_*forced laughter*_

_…_

_Too soon?_

_On the bright side, I'm starting to write my chapters a bit longer now! 'Cause at the rate I've been writing them, DoR won't be done until _well_ above 100 chapters. As much fun as that sounds, I'd rather have long, descriptive chapters than brief, funny snippets. Hopefully, I can get at least ten thousand words per chapter, but we'll see! I plan on trying to reach that goal starting next chapter! ('Cause I found a really good place to end this one.)_

_Much to my surprise, I've already started the next chapter! Hopefully, there won't be a really long wait for it! I'm actually in Minnesota right now, which is probably why my muse is being so kind to me…_

_But anyway…_

_Thanks to silviekins, tuskkins, xXPhillyJewelXx, gOthiCkUrOcHo69, NekoAria14, hadrianlopez1 and Dariana Night for adding this story to their alerts~!_

_More thanks to BadOrk11, silviekins, tuskkins, XxHeartMenderxX, MySilverLiningbitch (sorry, had to take the periods out of your name!), xXPhillyJewelXx, PyroKitsune, DiCuoreAllison,NekoAria14, TerrorTwinEpicness, Butterfly Princess of Books, Snoara, EpicShadowNinja, hadrianlopez1 and The Rainbow Devowerer for adding this story to their favs~!_

_My love to PostwarGravy for adding me to their alerts~!_

_More love to DiCuoreAllison and The Rainbow Devowerer for adding me to their favs~!_

_Special thanks to Manga-chan2, CheshiretheMadHatter, GingerNinja26, ChocoGummies and 707cloud for adding both me and this story to their alerts and favs~!_

_Here we go!_

* * *

**_scarlett key: _**_I would too. If only Lori and I were fighters. The most experience we 'have' with fighting is the pathetic grunts from Opal Village. But rest assured, that will be addressed soon!_

**_Guest: _**_Thanks! :) I hope this chapter meets your expectations as well!_

**_tuskkins: _**_Thanks! I appreciate the support!_

**_The Utterly Fabulous Z: _**_Zoro indeed._

**_TheSuperMario: _**_Thanks for the praise! As of where they are now, however, Lori and Kelly are unable to create/hold their hybrid form. From what I've read about zoan users, the hybrid form actually takes a bunch of training before they can stabilize it; which is why they currently can only change one thing at a time or change all together. And depending on the circumstances, they might change some things, but they don't want to mess with the original plot too much; because then they wouldn't be able to predict what will happen anymore._

* * *

**_Disclaimer: I do not own anything other than the idea for this story and Haru. Lori belongs to herself, and (most of) the plot and (all of) the characters belong to Oda-sensei. It's all I can do to dream about owning anything more._**

* * *

_Intro Theme: Fight Together by Namie Amuro_

"I can't believe I fucking _missed the fight_."

Lori ignored me as I continued to lament my loss. How could I have missed it?! I mean, it's not like they were quiet or anything! This was Luffy and Buggy we were talking about, for God's sake!

Man, ADHD sucks.

"Hey, could one of you help me carry one of these bags?" Nami complained, trying to lift her two bags of treasure with little success, "They're really heavy!"

Lori nodded and walked over to her, grabbing the knot of the bag. She grit her teeth as she tried to lift the heavy bag, but it barely budged from the ground. I laughed at her as she tried again, but only to be met with the same result.

"Damn, this is heavier than my backpack…" She grumbled, trying one last time in vain. I continued to laugh at her, amused by her antics. Nami ignored us and walked over to Luffy, offering the boy an old, rolled up piece of paper.

"Here." She stated, catching his attention. Luffy looked at the piece of paper as she continued, "Take this."

I couldn't help myself from saying, "It's dangerous to go alone! Take this!"

They just glanced at me in confusion as I held up my empty hand in excitement, happy with my gaming reference. I could hear Lori sigh in exasperation behind me, but I ignored her in favor of looking at the other two for reactions. I pouted when I realized that they were ignoring me.

"What is it?" Luffy asked, inspecting the piece of paper being offered to him. Nami rolled her eyes.

"It's the map to the Grand Line. You wanted it, right?"

Luffy perked up, his eyes lighting up with excitement, "Wait, you're giving it to me?"

It looked like she was reluctant to admit as much and turned away from him to mumble, "Well, you _did _save my life…"

Luffy didn't leave her time to continue as he whooped with joy, snatching the parchment from her hands, "Thanks, Nami!"

He continued to cheer about his new acquisition, ignoring the small glare that the navigator was sending his way. She let out a sigh and an amused smile crossed her face at his antics, shaking her head a bit. I grinned at our captain, throwing my hands up and cheering with him.

Luffy paused in his cheering to turn to Nami and ask, "Does this mean you're joining us then?"

"Didn't I already tell you I won't become a pirate?" She repeated as her eyes narrowed. Luffy continued to stare at her, unfazed by what she'd said. After a few seconds, she relented and finally let a smirk cross her face.

"But it's okay. I mean, working with you guys will earn me lots of money." She commented, shrugging her shoulders a bit. Luffy perked up yet again as she continued, "_But! _I'm _only_ working with you guys while it benefits me! Remember it!"

Luffy grinned anyway, excited by the prospect of a new crewmate. Realization hit me and my excitement grew even higher than his. I spun to face Lori with a wide grin on my face.

"Johanna! We'll actually have _money!_" I said, throwing my fists up in the air in my excitement. Lori glanced at me, a small frown on her face, "We already had money before this, remember?"

I paused, recalling the wad of money waiting for us in my backpack.

"…Oh yeah."

As my excitement died as fast as it came, Luffy walked over to Zoro, who was still snoring away in the middle of the street. He crouched down next to his head and started slapping his cheek, uncaring of how rough he was waking him.

"Zoro! Time to wake up!" He ordered, earning a small groan of protest from the sleeping swordsman. Zoro cracked his eye open, trying to focus on his captain. Luffy waited as he sat up, being mindful of his wounds.

"Is the fight over already…?" He asked; his voice heavy with sleep. Luffy grinned at him, shoving the map into his face as he replied, "The map and the navigator! I got them both!"

At that, Zoro glanced at Nami to look her over, frowning in suspicion. Nami seemed a bit nervous under his intense stare, but she stood her ground. Zoro broke their eye contact with a wince, placing a hand over his bleeding wound.

"Crap, I think I'm gonna faint…" He groaned, paling a bit more, "I can't move, either…"

"Well, with that amount of blood loss, I'm just surprised you're even conscious." I commented, walking over to him to check his wound. He glared at me as I knelt in front of him, but he seemed too weak to retort.

"If he could move, you guys wouldn't be human." Nami stated, crossing her arms to give us all a level glare.

My jaw dropped, "Wait, why was _I_ included in that?"

"Yeah, why me?" Luffy added, confused. Nami turned to him with a harsh glare.

"_You _are the strangest of them _all!_"

"Haru, you weren't included in that." Lori continued, "You didn't even do anything, why would you be in that group?"

"That's what _I _was saying!" I said, looking at her with an offended expression.

Lori sighed, shaking her head and adding on, "No no, you weren't included in the first place."

"…Oh."

Nami ignored our banter, rubbing her temples to try and calm down, "Anyway, we should check on the mayor…"

Luffy looked over as well, glancing past Zoro and I to the unconscious old man lying on the ground where we left him. I blinked at the old man we'd left sprawled out on the ground. I'd forgotten about him completely…

"Hey!"

We all looked over towards the voice to see a group of people gathered, wielding pitchforks and spears. They all looked wary and nervous, as though they'd never been accustomed to shelling out threats before. But what had my attention was…

"Is… Is that guy wearing a _pot_?" I asked, staring at one of the people towards the back of the group. I could hear Lori snicker at my comment, but no one else seemed to pay me any mind. The guy was wearing a stove pot over his head like a helmet, but it looked absolutely _ridiculous_. Did he realize how stupid that looked? I kept staring at it, oblivious to the glare he was sending my way.

"You're not from around here, are you?" The man leading the group called.

Luffy smiled and called back, "Yeah! What about you?"

"We are the residents of this town!" The man announced proudly, his grip on the make-shift spear growing as he continued on, "What happened to the pirates? Tell us what you know!"

Nami relaxed with a sigh of relief, "Oh, you're the _residents_… I thought you were enemy reinforcements!"

"Nami, what enemy reinforcement would come into battle with a _pot_ strapped on his head?" I asked, still staring at the guy in question. The guy glared at me once again, and I held up my hands in response. I heard Lori laughing behind me, and it took a lot of will power to not turn and smirk at her.

"Ah! The mayor!"

The attention was back on the unconscious man in the road as the villagers surrounded their mayor, calling to him in hopes of rousing him from his sleep. Nami faked a smile and turned her head away from the commotion, backing away a bit with her bags of treasure.

"The pirates must have done this!" One of the villagers spat, growing upset as their mayor remained unconscious, "How could they do such an awful thing?!"

"Ah. Sorry, I had to knock him out."

All eyes turned to the smiling boy with a straw hat. The villagers stared at Luffy for a few seconds before yelling in shock.

"_WHAT?!_"

I narrowed my eyes in disgust, scrunching up my nose a bit as some of them spat.

"Jeez, say it, don't spray it." I said, moving away from the group. They didn't seem to hear me, their animosity directed at my captain.

"Luffy!" Nami scolded eyes wide as she looked at the angry villagers, "You didn't have to say that!"

Luffy frowned and looked at her, "But I did it."

"Yeah, but there was a good reason-!"

"Why would you harm our mayor?!" One of the villagers accused, all of them rising to prepare an attack. The other villagers cheered in agreement, aggressively pointing their weapons towards us. Zoro seemed just as confused as Luffy, tilting his head, but the villagers only had eyes for Luffy. I nudged Zoro's arm, gaining his attention. I nodded my head subtly towards Luffy, trying to tell him we should get moving. He nodded back, shifting to his knees with a wince.

"Who are you people?!" Another villager asked, unaware of me helping Zoro to his feet, "Are you connected to the pirates?!"

Nami panicked, holding her hands up to try and calm down the angry mob, "Well, you see-"

"We _are_ pirates."

Once again, all attention was on Luffy, who was grinning with pride. Nami stared at him with wide eyes and a dropped jaw as the villagers yelled in anger, "WE THOUGHT SO!"

Zoro burst out in laughter, clutching his still bleeding wound as he leaned on me for support. I snorted, shaking my head in amusement at our captain's antics and pulling Zoro's arm over my shoulder. Nami snapped, turning on Luffy with a nasty glare.

"You _idiot!_"

"What? It's the truth!" Luffy said, confused as to why she was so angry.

Nami opened her mouth to yell some more, but one of the villagers cut her off, "How _dare_ you cause so much destruction to our town?!"

Luffy ruffled his hair, confused as another villager added, "We won't forgive you! Even if you're just kids!"

I helped Zoro over to Luffy's side, struggling to support him. Zoro grinned at Luffy, just as amused as before.

"What now?" He asked, gaining our captain's attention, "They won't listen to us anymore."

Luffy grinned, walking over to us with a mischievous chuckle. I let him take Zoro from my shoulder, sighing in relief when his weight was off of me. Nami seemed to understand what he was planning, her eyes growing wide. She grabbed her sacks of treasure and with adrenaline pumping in her veins, she threw them over her shoulders. Lori and I glanced at each other and grinned, pulling on our backpacks as Luffy pulled Zoro onto his back.

"_Run!_" Luffy ordered, taking off down the street with Zoro in tow. I laughed and followed him closely, watching Nami scramble to follow after us. The villagers roared in anger, chasing after us as best as they could.

"Don't let them escape!" One of them ordered, the others yelling in agreement.

"(Shut up, ya fucking pot-head)!" I yelled over my shoulder. Lori was unable to contain her snickers any longer and broke out in laughter. She tried her best to run as she laughed her ass off, but her pace was slower than before. I finally realized what I'd actually said and laughed with her, tears gathering in the corners of my eyes.

"Why do you _always_ speak without using your brain?!" Nami scolded, ignoring our childish laughter to glare at our captain. Luffy laughed, unfazed by her anger.

"This is a good town!" He observed, calling our attention on him as he continued, "For the sake of their mayor, everyone's doing their best to fight!"

Nami opened her mouth to retort, but Luffy cut her off, "No matter what excuse we came up with, they'd still be just as angry! So why not tell them the truth?"

Nami grumbled, unable to find an argument against that. I grinned, holding onto my hat as I jumped over a fallen crate in my path.

"Why are _you_ running?" Lori asked, panting a bit from all of the running. I glanced at her, the confusion on my face enough to prompt her into asking once again, "Why aren't you _flying?_"

"There isn't enough room here for me to change." I responded, gesturing to the narrow walls of the alley, "If I changed here, I think I'd just get stuck."

"Ah."

"If I _could,_ I would've broken free in an instant. All High School Musical style and everything." I commented with a grin, spreading my arms as I began to sing.

_"We're so~arin'~! Fly~in'~!_"

"Oh god, sorry I asked," Lori groaned, plugging her ears with a glare.

I laughed as Luffy called, "Hey, turn here!"

Lori and I followed Luffy into the alley, but Nami had been running a little ahead of him when he gave the order.

"Wha- Don't say it at the last second!" She yelled, turning to see us disappear down the alley. She skittered to a stop before doubling back to follow us, yelping in fear as the villagers made a grab for her. I laughed again, but shut up quickly at her angry glare. I looked ahead in the alley to see a familiar white dog standing in the path. Nami and Luffy leapt over the dog with wide eyes.

"ShuShu?"

"Dog?!"

"_Puppy!_"

Lori instantly stopped to kneel and pet the dog, cooing in adoration. My eyes widened as I was forced to stop, since she was right in front of me.

"Hey, move it or lose it!" I yelled, pushing her with all my might as the angry villagers drew closer.

She whined, trying to resist my shoving, "I don't wanna leave the puppy!"

"Sucks to suck, we can't bring him with us!" I continued, shoving her one last time past the dog to follow the others. Lori let out another whine before reluctantly following our crew down the alleyway. I heard barking from behind us and looked over my shoulder to see ShuShu growling at the villagers, keeping them from following us.

"ShuShu, get out of the way!" One of them ordered, not willing to hurt the dog to give chase to us, "They're evil pirates, you shouldn't be barking at us!"

He ignored them and continued guarding the path, barking and snapping at anyone who tried to move around him. Luffy grinned, turning back ahead to keep running.

"Thanks, doggie!" He called, waving over his shoulder at him.

ShuShu barked in response before we disappeared from their sight.

We continued to run until the voices of the angry villagers faded into the distance. Once we were sure they were gone, we slowed to a walk to catch our breath. I took careful, deep breaths, pulling off my hat to use it as a make-shift fan. Lori held her arms over her head, taking deep breaths like me.

Luffy, surprisingly, didn't seem winded at all. He continued to piggy back Zoro at the head of our group, looking around for our boat on the docks. Nami wheezed, struggling to hold up her bags of treasure as she asked, "H-How are you not tired…?"

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"It'd be better not to ask, Nami." I commented, wiping the sweat from my brow, "Do you _really_ want to know all that is Luffy?"

She conceded to my point with a breathy laugh, shaking her head and taking one of her bags off of her shoulder. Luffy didn't get my subtle insult and shrugged, continuing to look for our boats. We managed to find our small dingy on the docks, Nami's parked right next to it.

"Thank goodness," Nami sighed, leaning on her boat in relief, "We somehow managed to escape, thanks to ShuShu."

"It wasn't that bad," Luffy said, easing Zoro carefully onto the ground, "We finished what we wanted to do."

Nami relented to his point, tossing one of her bags onto her boat. Luffy took notice, his eyes lighting up in excitement as he asked, "Hey, is that your ship? It's really nice!"

He adjusted Zoro so one of his arms was over his shoulder, walking him towards the boats as Nami said, "Not really. I just took this from a bunch of stupid pirates."

"How _dare_ you say that!"

We turned our attention to the three men who'd been hiding in the boat, angry looks on their faces.

I blinked, "Well, speak of the devil."

"We've been waiting for you, thief!" The leader growled, glaring at the red-head in question. Nami's eyes widened as she recognized the three men approaching them, tensing in fear.

Luffy frowned in confusion, staring at the three men before turning to Nami and asking, "You know them?"

"Y-Yeah… A little…" Nami responded, laughing nervously. I frowned and looked at her with a suspicious glare.

"Wait, _how_ do you know them?"

Lori stared at her in accusation before asking as well, "_Why_ do you know them."

Nami grinned sheepishly as one of the men approached Luffy with a bitter sneer, finally gaining the boys' attention.

"Not just a little, _woman_," He snarled, the other two standing at her sides for intimidation, "We go back a ways."

"…If _that's_ not a sexual implication, then I don't know what is." I commented, looking between all of them in suspicion. Lori glared at me and I held up my hands and defended myself with, "What, it's what I see!"

"Just shut up."

Thankfully, the angry pirates didn't seem to notice our exchange. The leader continued on his rant, glaring Luffy down, "So you have friends, do you? We'll have to teach you _all_ a lesson then!"

"I don't think I want a part in that lesson, thank you very much." I said, drawing their attention to me. Lori scrunched her nose in disgust, eyeing the pirates with distaste and nodding in agreement. Luffy let out a short laugh, adjusting his grip on Zoro as the pirates growled in anger.

"We'll teach you that you shouldn't steal other people's stuff!" The leader snapped, glaring me down.

I blinked before sighing in relief, "Oh, it's just _that?_"

The pirates seemed to grow angrier and Lori sighed, shaking her head and pinching the bridge of her nose at my comment. I frowned when realization dawned on me and turned to the leader of the trio, confused.

"Wait, shouldn't that lesson be taught by someone else?" I asked, crossing my arms, "'Cause I _highly_ doubt you guys got all this stuff through legal means. I mean, you _are_ pirates."

Luffy laughed at me, amused by my commentary. The lead pirate snapped, somehow more pissed off than he'd been before, "_Enough!_"

I held up my hands yet again, not wanting to piss them off any further. They finally seemed to notice Zoro dozing on Luffy's shoulder, the leader slapping him upside the head to vent some of his anger.

"Hey! Don't pretend to sleep, ya bastard!" He growled, smacking him again. I paled in fear, backing away a bit as an angry aura surrounded the swordsman. Lori backed away with me, tensing and slowly backing behind my shoulder. Luffy seemed unfazed as Zoro picked up his head to give the idiot trio a pain-filled glare. They paled in fear, not seeing his pain and only noticing the anger storming in the swordsman's eyes.

"_What?_"

The three pirates flinched and screamed in fear, backing away from him as quickly as possible. They tried to pretend they weren't scared, even as they were shaking in their shoes, but they were paralyzed with fear under the angry glare.

"Remind me to never wake him up." Lori whispered to me, hoping not to attract Zoro's wrath. I nodded in agreement, unable to tear my eyes from the scene. Zoro grunted and forced himself to stand up; clenching his teeth as his wound reopened for the nth time in the past hour.

"Let's get outta here." He grumbled as he climbed into Luffy's dingy.

"Yessir!" I said, saluting to the man and quickly jumping into Nami's boat so I wouldn't have to sit with the irate swordsman. Lori followed me onto the boat, leaving Nami to unhook us from the dock. I stood in the middle of the deck, looking around for what I could do to help. Lori ignored me and settled into the bench near the bow of the boat, leaning back on the railing.

"What?" Nami asked, kicking us off the dock.

I turned to her, sheepish, "I've never been on a sailboat before."

"Seriously? How?"

"I've flown Jo' everywhere before this." I shrugged, jamming my hands in my pockets as I looked around the boat. Nami looked surprised at that information and I grinned, adding on, "We've never made a long distance trip across the ocean before."

"Wow…" She muttered, dragging up the sails, "That's impressive, considering most of the world is covered in ocean."

"Yeah, we didn't get out too often." I said, helping her tie the rope.

Once everything seemed secure we casted off, drifting away from the island. As we continued out into the wide open sea, an idea popped into my head. A wide grin spread on my face as I pulled my iPod out of my pocket, scrolling through the songs quickly. Lori noticed my grin and tensed, as if reading my mind, and started saying, "Haru, don't-"

_Shawty~!_

_Aw, **shit**!_

_Getcha towels ready, it's about to go down!_

"Haru, no-"

"Haru, _yes_." I beamed, rapping to the intro as I stood on the bow.

_Everybody hit the fucking deck! But stay on your mother fucking toes!_

_We runnin' this, let's go!_

_I'm on a _

"Boat! I'm on a boat…?" I continued, pausing when my iPod fell silent. I glanced down at it, confused. My eyes widened in horror when I realized that tragedy had struck.

My iPod had died.

"_NOOOOOOOO!_" I yelled, holding my iPod up as I fell to my knees. I heard Lori sigh in relief behind me, but I was too busy sobbing over my dead electronic to care. I cradled it to my chest, willing it to suddenly work once again.

"I-I don't know how I can go on…" I wept, head bowed. Zoro and Nami stared at me in mystified contempt, whereas Luffy was too busy watching a bird fly overhead to even care. Lori rolled her eyes, sighing in annoyance.

"Uh…" Nami started, unsure of what to even ask.

Lori shook her head and cut her off, "Just leave her alone, she'll be fine."

"I will _not_ be fine!" I cried, comical tears now welling in my eyes.

Lori and I were oblivious to the shocked stare Nami was giving us as she mumbled, "She…?"

"Haru, I've been without my iPod for over two months now. You'll live."

"B-But how will I get my dubstep fix out here in the boonies?!"

Lori paused before shrugging and mumbling, "I'unno."

"_She?_"

Lori finally turned to Nami, a bit confused to her shock. She glanced at me before nodding, causing Nami's eyes to widen further. Zoro seemed shocked as well as Lori started explaining, "Uh… Yeah…? This is my older sister, Haru…"

Nami's jaw dropped and Zoro's eyes widened as Lori pointed her thumb at me, who was still sobbing over my dead iPod.

"She's… twenty-one?" She continued. She was still confused until realization finally seemed to hit her, "Oh, you thought she was-…"

I put any final suspicions to rest when I said, "I might act like a guy, but I'm one hundred percent female."

"_WHAT?!_" Nami and Zoro both yelled, staring at me with wide eyes. I laughed at their reactions, stuffing my iPod back in my pocket and sliding on my sunglasses. Luffy laughed with me and declared, "You guys are weird!"

"She used to have long hair like me, but she cut it all off a couple years back." Lori explained, unable to keep a grin from her face. Zoro and Nami both glared accusingly at her, but she held up her hands and defended, "Hey, it's not _my_ fault you thought she was a dude."

At this, I perked up with a smirk. I scooted next to Nami, throwing my arm over the railing behind her, and slipped off my shades to give her my best 'sexy' smirk. I let my voice drop as I asked her, "Why, were you interested~?"

Jaws dropped all around and the silence was almost tangible. Luffy was the only one who wasn't aware of what I was implicating, his head tilted in confusion. Nami appeared to be short circuiting, gaping like a fish out of water as her cheeks started growing a slight red. Zoro's eyes were almost popping out of his head as he looked between us, holding his breath from shock. He looked at Lori for confirmation, but she shook her head.

"Even _I_ didn't know she swung that way…" She mumbled, staring at me in accusation.

I glanced at her, still smirking as I responded, "Hey, if a hottie wants _my_ body, who am I to complain?"

Lori opened and closed her mouth, unable to choose a proper response to that. She stared in silence for a few seconds before shrugging and turning to stare at the wide ocean ahead. I laughed, finally moving away from the gaping navigator and sliding back on my sunglasses in victory. Nami took advantage of the distance to shift further away, eyeing me warily. Zoro sighed and shook his head, rubbing his eyes in exasperation. Luffy laughed, still unaware of what had just transpired.

"Did you all _really_ think I was a guy?" I asked, hoping to break the ice that'd started forming from that stunt, "Am I that hot of a guy?"

"Or that ugly of a girl…" Lori mumbled, still facing the sea. I whirled to face her, pointing a finger in accusation as I snapped, "_You little shit_\- That was smooth, though."

Lori smirked at that, head tilting back a bit at the praise. I smiled, not offended in the slightest. Nami finally let out a weary sigh, resting her elbows on her knees and burying her face in her hands. I turned to her, a bit worried I'd gone too far, until she muttered, "Can we _please_ just let it go?"

"I concur." Lori piped up, bored with the conversation already. I grinned and patted her on the back, earning a glare between her fingers as I told her, "If it's any consolation, I was serious."

"It's not."

"Well, then that's your loss."

That got a grin out of her and I gave her a toothy grin back, sliding off my backpack and setting it on the deck next to my feet. Zoro seemed to want to forget that ever happened, glancing around for a distraction. His eyes landed on the flag flapping in the wind from its perch on Nami's boat.

"Your ship still flies Buggy's flag?" He asked, nodding to the flag for emphasis. Nami glanced at it and hummed.

"Well, it _was_ their ship… I'll take it down some other time. There's no point now." She declared, moving her treasure into the small cabin on board. Zoro nodded, satisfied with her response, and laid back on the deck of the dingy to get some sleep.

"_Hey, wait, you brats!_"

We all turned to look at the shore, only to find the mayor waving at us from the dock we'd been anchored to. His words sank in and I stood up, shouting back, "Hey, I take offense to that! I'm an adult!"

Lori stared at me, but said nothing. I could tell what she was thinking, though, and turned to her with a glare.

"I _am!_"

The mayor laughed through his tears and continued waving at us as he yelled, "Sorry! I'll return the favor someday!"

Luffy grinned and got up from his seat as well, waving back.

"Don't worry about it! Take it easy, old man!"

The mayor laughed, lowering his arms and watching us drift over the horizon and out of sight. I grinned at the interaction, sitting back down on the bench. Nami was glancing around the deck of her ship, a frown on her lips.

"Hey, where's my other bag of treasure?"

"Oh, that?" Luffy remembered, glancing at her as he sat back down, "I left it back on the dock."

"You _what?!_"

She lunged at him from her spot, grabbing the front of his shirt with a demonic glare as she snarled in his face, "That bag _alone_ was worth five million Beli! Why would you just _leave it behind?!_"

Luffy tilted his head, wondering why she was so angry.

"But if they wanted to rebuild the town, they would need the money."

"That was _my_ treasure! Do you know how hard it was for me to get?!"

Luffy shrugged, and that was Nami's final straw. With an angry screech, she grabbed him by the back of his head and shoved him towards the water. He yelped in fear and braced himself against the two boats, trying to squirm away from the furious navigator.

"Why did you have to do that?!"

"Hey, I can't swim! Cut it out!"

"That's _why_ I'm doing it, you moron!"

"I realize my mistake and regret it now!"

"Who cares?! That money is gone now! Just go die!"

I raised an eyebrow at that last demand and said, "Whoa now, Nami, that's a serious threat. You should be careful what you say."

"Yeah, really." Lori added in, relaxing in her seat.

Nami glared at us both and we raised our hands in unison, not wanting to fall to the same fate as our captain. Zoro laughed and smirked at us, "Well, neither of you are moving to help him."

"Hey, just because _he's_ gonna die doesn't mean _I_ have to." I said, staring at our captain with apathy.

Lori nodded in agreement, also watching Luffy flail about with no emotions, "Yeah, I'm not drowning for that guy."

"We just met. I have no life commitments to him yet."

Zoro let out a bark of laughter, throwing his head back as he declared, "Loyal crewmates to the end!"

Lori snorted and jabbed her thumb towards Luffy and amended, "To the end of _his_ life, maybe."

I cackled in agreement. Lori glanced at Luffy, who's head was almost submerged in the ocean water, and continued, "Doesn't look like that'd gonna take too long."

Zoro clutched his stomach, laughing so hard that tears were starting to well up in the corners of his eyes. I grinned and laughed with him, watching our poor captain nearly drown in the hands of the enraged navigator. Lori smirked, leaning back to watch the comical fight.

"Guys, help me!" Luffy pleaded, still scrambling to brace himself against the two boats. I snorted and responded, "We already explained why we're not doing that."

"I'm you're captain!" He whined, glaring at us under the brim of his hat, "You're supposed to help me!"

Lori gave him a two-fingered salute and replied, "You had a good run there, captain."

"Yeah, we'll hold a nice service for you when Nami surrenders your body."

Luffy whined again, narrowly avoiding getting pushed in, and turned to his last hope, "Zoro!"

But his hope was crushed when he found the swordsman doubled over in laughter, tears starting to fall from his eyes. Luffy's eyes widen in comical horror and he yelped as Nami doubled her efforts to push him in.

"How dare you fight back?! You _owe_ me!"

"I-I'm sorry, Nami!"

"Then let me push you in!"

"No way!"

I joined in the laughter, slapping the bench next to me as tears welled up in my eyes. Lori grinned, shaking her head at the fighting before standing up and trying to calm Nami down. Zoro and I leaned on each other, trying to gasp for air between our choked laughter.

And that was how our adventure with the Straw Hat Pirates began.

_Ending Theme: Demons by Imagine Dragons_

* * *

**_(No songs this time! And there won't be for quite some time now!)_**

* * *

_That scene where Nami thought I was flirting with her? Yeah, I actually did that to one of my friends when I first met her._

_She kicked me in the shin and I had a bruise for a _week_._

_But we get a good laugh out of it now when we share the story with friends._

_Good times._

_Gooood times…_

_With the increase in words for the chapters, I'm not sure if that could possibly affect my writing schedule any more than it already has, but I'm hoping to update again soon sometime!_

_So I hope to hear from you guys soon!_

_Love you all~_

_Haruhi_


End file.
